Percy Jackson and the Stolen Hero
by just4alaugh
Summary: What if Percy was Roman? What if he never made it to camp Half Blood? "Annabeth was a... Greek demigod. Instinctively, Percy knew this was true. Then eliminate this girl, this threat, now! Percy could just imagine Octavian screaming those words at him. But, Percy thought, I don't want to." [Set after Titan War, but before Giant War.] Will include other HOO characters too : )
1. Prologue

**Note/Disclaimer: I don't own any characters etc.**

Prologue

"OH GODS WE ARE GOING TO DIE!" yelled Grover. Which wasn't exactly the most encouraging thing to hear, considering Percy was kinda counting on the guy to lead them to 'safety'. The thing was, sitting in the passenger seat of a broken up car, speeding along on grass and rocks, a minotaur racing behind them screaming bloody murder, Percy wasn't sure he remembered the meaning of _safety_. In any case, he felt positive he'd never be able to experience that feeling again. Grover then seemed to realize what he'd just screamed. "I mean, we'll be fine, just fine," he muttered weakly.

"Grover, man," Percy tried to keep the panic out of his voice. "How far are-" He winced as Grover screeched (Percy made a mental note to suggest Grover cover the song _Chandelier_ at a later date) and swerved around a giant boulder that the minotaur had just chucked in their path. At least the car hadn't been hit. Despite his scattered manner, Grover's driving was on point and car continued barrelling along. Percy tried again. "How far away are we from… Camp… er?" He glanced back at his mom for help. She was in the backseat, looking back at the Minotaur.

"Camp Half Blood," Grover muttered, so quietly that Percy wasn't sure the goat-boy realized he'd spoken aloud. _Satyr_. That was what he'd called himself. "Look, Percy," he took his eyes off the road and looked at Percy squarely, which Percy found troubling because they were doing at least 180. Percy's eyes kept flitting nervously ahead, on the lookout for more rocks blocking their path. "I'm going to be honest with you. We're heading the wrong way." Percy blanched. He waited. Grover looked back at the road and actually looked slightly calmer.

Percy's first thought: _what a weird time to make a joke._ When he realized his friend was serious, he tried to stay calm. Percy just couldn't believe Grover's words. It was as if too many unusual things had happened and his brain just couldn't accept anymore bad news and any more weirdness.

Percy's mom spoke up. "Grover, you said you knew how to control that wind thermis." Her tone was carrying a lot of emotion and the urgency underlying it really got to Percy. His mother was worried, but worried about _him_. Percy vowed to himself that no matter what, he would make sure that she, at least, was okay.

"I think when the minotaur charged me it completely altered our direction. We're really in…" Grover gulped. Percy stared at him. His mom stared at Grover too. Percy couldn't believe this was the same scrawny boy that just yesterday he'd had to protect from bullies. "Sonoma."

Percy whistled. His mother was silent. He glanced at her; her face was so defeated it scared him to no end. She was a brave lady. The most calm person he knew. She normally never lost her head in a crisis. _Please let this be a nightmare._ He allowed himself one millisecond of self pity. Nope, unfortunately, this was all real.

"So what now?" Percy ventured. "Where is this camp?" Grover squeaked something. "What did you say?" Percy asked.

"Long Island," Grover repeated, more loudly. Percy laughed. Then, for the second time, he realized Grover wasn't joking.

"We're not going to make-" Percy stopped. There was too much panic in the car. They needed to calm down. He took a deep breath. Deep down, he was certain they weren't going to make it; all three of them knew it. The minotaur was almost upon them. But stating the obvious wouldn't help. "Okay, what about if we stop and fight? By we I mean me; I have this weird pen-sword. Riptide. And then Grover, you can take my mom-"

"No way," Grover said, "You're the one I need to protect-"

"Don't even think we'll leave you behind for a moment Perseus Jackson-"

"But-" Percy didn't get to finish his sentence because that was when the minotaur caught up and gave their vehicle an almighty shove. Percy, Grover and Sally crashed into an old mansion (which Grover had been doing his best to avoid). That was bad enough in itself, but then Percy heard howling.

* * *

Later, Percy remembered the day very clearly, even though in reality the battle happened quickly and was a big blur. He and Grover got out of the steaming car; they noted the Minotaur was jogging towards them. Clearly, it hadn't realized that by pushing the car into the ruins of this house, it had also pushed the car away from itself. Percy made sure his mom was okay and he and Grover helped her out the back, moving some wreckage aside.

The three of them stood by the car. It turned out the howling was coming from a cub, a baby wolf. It scampered from the ruins of the mansion and ran towards the Minotaur; but Percy grabbed the little wolf on instinct alone as it raced by, and firmly placed it behind him. The wolf snapped his hand and Percy yelled. Still, he just didn't feel right letting a Minotaur devour a baby wolf. The Minotaur, meanwhile, chuckled and advanced.

Sally tried to shield Percy from the Minotaur, but Percy ducked around her and attempted to charge the monster with Riptide. The Minotaur shoved him to the side and roared, advancing slowly towards him. The breath was knocked out of Percy as he crashed into a tree, but at least his mother and Grover were safe for now.

The monster's eyes danced with hunger. Grover attempted to get behind the Minotaur and distract him, but the Minotaur only stopped when the howling started again. This howling was louder than before; it chilled Percy to the bone. It hadn't come from the cub.

What surprised Percy was that the Minotaur shivered. Actually shuddered, as if it would have a reason to fear wolves when it was already a big hulking machine of a being. Then it charged at Percy like suddenly it realized it didn't have all the time in the world to make it's kill. It was exactly three meters away when Sally Jackson, who had gotten back in the car, reversed into the Minotaur, knocking it aside. When she drove forward again, Percy took the opportunity and lunged at the monster, stabbing it with Riptide. The Minotaur dissolved in a flash of light and dust.

Percy was breathing heavily; as was Grover. The cub was yapping. The omnious howling continued. Disbelief filled him. He didn't know what to think.

It took Percy a few seconds to realize Grover was urging him to get back in the car. Percy was still in shock, but he was just about to move when the giant wolf came out. Red and silver, it rippled and moved with astounding speed. Suddenly Percy missed the Minotaur.

* * *

You know it's bad when the Minotaur that terrorized you five minutes ago has got you nostalgic for simpler times. Percy and Grover stood shoulder to shoulder facing a wolf that towered above everything, standing on the ruins of the mansion they had crashed into. Grover whimpered. Sally Jackson opened the car doors and yelled at them to get inside quick; but the wolf jumped between the boys and the car.

The wolf exuded power. It poured off it's russet fur and danced in its silvery eyes. It eyed them and Percy could swear it was examining them, making a decision. Even though the wolf didn't speak, Percy heard what it had to say-the flicks and movements of it's eyes and ears, the swish of it's tail. These were a language. The words came to Percy slowly, haltingly. " _Alright. I'll take him."_ Percy had no idea that he could understand Wolf, but there you go.

He glanced at Grover. "Did you just… hear that?"

Grover bleated. "Um, yeah." He faced the wolf. "Sorry, take who? Because I'm not really that delicious-I'd taste terrible, honest!"

The wolf snorted. " _No, not_ you." Percy found it difficult to gauge the wolf's tone, but it wasn't amused. The eyes were piercing and firm. " _I have no interest in fauns. I will take the demigod._ " There was that word again; demigod. What he apparently was. Stunned silence followed the wolf's words. Sally Jackson met Percy's gaze; she was clearly as confused as he and Grover.

"Um, thanks, but no thanks." Percy backed away slowly. He needed to get to his mother, and the three of them had to boot it out of there.

The Wolf didn't growl. The Wolf simply stared at him keenly. Then it glanced at his mother and Grover. " _I value courage; your mother and faun show it. So do you. I will only offer you this choice one more time. Come with me. Perhaps you will make it to camp; a camp where you will be safe, a camp for demigods."_ The wolf glared at them now, as if this were very important information. " _Accept my offer and you will be safe, for now at least. You will be trained. Decline, and you can attempt to make it to… well. I foresee you won't survive such a long trip, especially considering your parentage. Either way, all of you must swear on the Styx that you will not repeat what I have told you._ " The Wolf glanced at Percy's mom. " _I do not show mercy. But I do repay favours. Your son saved my cub, albeit inadvertently. I can now save_ yours."

Percy, Sally and Grover stared at each other. Percy knew this was not the right place, this was not where Grover had meant to take him-that was clear enough from Grover's expression. He wasn't certain they could make it to the "right" place, but he didn't like the thought of going with this wolf either. Percy tried to read his mother's expression, but it was inscrutable.

"What's … Who are you?" Percy asked, stalling for time.

" _I fear I am altering the course of your life. For better or worse, I am your saving grace. I am Lupa."_


	2. Chapter 1

_Note/Disclaimer: I don't own the world/characters etc. Rick Riordan does. (Yay for Rick & his awesome world). _

_Also, I hope you enjoy this chapter : )_

* * *

 _Many years later…_

 **Chapter 1 : PERCY**

When Percy saw the one called Annabeth, he was sure he would die. Which he found kind of ironic, because he'd always assumed that it would be some sort of monster or god that put an end to him. Not a demigod, certainly not one with startling grey eyes. You know, the kind that are stormy but also weirdly mesmerising… which was, of course, completely besides the point! Because she was an enemy. Who was about to kill him. Percy gritted his teeth. _Stupid Octavian_ , he thought, _that no good piece of_ …

* * *

Although it wasn't _all_ Octavian's fault, Percy still believed the Augur was responsible for starting this whole mess. A group of water nymphs had come to Camp Jupiter asking for help because their friends had been captured by an old sea god who was imprisoning nymphs, among other creatures, in an aquarium in Atlanta. Octavian had jumped at the chance to send Percy on this quest.

"Neptune's son is the only person for the job, really," he'd insisted in New Rome, the senators nodding along like bobble heads. "Would anyone disagree? The mission should be simple enough; he need not take many supplies, nor many companions." When Percy had scoffed at that part, Octavian had raised an eyebrow. "Well, we should definitely admire how you know your limits." Percy had set his jaw. _Don't punch him again_ , he'd had to remind himself, _don't punch him again_. "If you really feel a bit… hmm, _concerned_ about your competency, I will send my faithful comrade Felix to assist you. He's very trustworthy. And Reyna can join you too, she's certainly very skilled." _Yeah, and she's also a strong candidate for Praetor. You'd love to get her out of the way_. Percy wasn't exactly sure what, but he knew Octavian was up to something.

Praetor elections were quickly coming up and it was no surprise that Octavian wanted the job. Thankfully, there were a few candidates even more popular than him, probably because they didn't have to buy half their votes.

In front of the senate, in front of Octavian, Percy had frowned. He had found it weird that the nymphs had come first to Octavian, instead of the Camp's Praetors; Jason and Helen (who was resigning after many years of service and was heading off to college). It was also weird that Octavian had called this meeting so quickly, enthusiasm practically pouring off him. "So it's settled." Octavian had smirked. "After all," and here he had turned his back to the senate, shooting Percy a special look of hatred, "such a strong candidate for future _Praetor_ should find quests like this easily doable. And we really can't spare that many soldiers, what with our effort to rebuild and renew the city after that Titan War."

What was a son of Neptune to do? Percy couldn't have declined, not after being put on the spot like that. He hadn't wanted to decline either-he'd wanted to help...

But, now, actually carrying out the quest, he wished he'd been given more supplies. Plus, he wished more of his friends had come along; Jason, Hazel or even his newest friend, Frank.

Reyna and Percy worked well together, but Felix was very snippy and degrading. Mind you, he'd gone from initially being a pain in Percy's podex to actually saving his podex (well, sort of; Felix had, just five minutes ago, pushed Percy aside and stopped him from being squashed by a flying sea monster).

The three of them were currently sprinting out of the Georgia Aquarium as fast as they could, having worked together with some water nymphs to free the imprisoned sea creatures, who they'd managed to transport back into deep sea waters magically (hey, you gotta love the power a very large group of water nymphs have to create a water portal). Phorcys and Keto, the two gods in charge of the whole enclosure, were not pleased. Phorcys wasn't an issue (Percy and Reyna had taken care of him) but Keto was, unfortunately, alive and ANGRY.

She yelled behind them. "I WILL FEED YOU TO MY BABIES AFTER CHOPPING YOU INTO BITE SIZED PIECES!" But thankfully she wasn't in sight yet.

"Okay," Percy panted, noticing that the aquarium-tunnel branched into three different pathways ahead. "Does everyone have the weapons Hazel gave us? Good, new plan. Those weapons can blow any tunnel's wall open. We split up and escape. That'll make it harder for Keto, hopefully." The other two grunted their agreement.

"Meet up at the rendezvous spot," Felix reminded. Then each demigod took a separate pathway.

Percy's tunnel was the left path. It was essentially a maintenance tunnel that must only have popped up because the magic of this place was fading. The cages and boxes that lined the walls were empty, thankfully… Hang on. Except one.

Percy paused. He glanced at a cage, devoid of water, and saw the most unusual thing. A faun. Sitting in the cage. With a rasta baseball cap clutched nervously in his hands.

Percy's eyes widened.

The faun was much older than when Percy last saw him, but Percy recognized him instantly. Percy felt like Phorcys had just summoned another ice cold tidal wave to flatten him. He froze and suddenly an old memory danced at the forefront of his mind. One in which this faun was screaming. One in which a minotaur was chasing them. One that he hadn't thought about in many, many years.

No, not faun. Satyr. No, not Satyr. _Grover_.

"Yeah, that's me." Grover looked at Percy nervously. Percy hadn't realized he'd spoken aloud. "Um, you don't work for Phorcys do you? Because, I swear, I'll pay you triple what you're getting now if you let me go. I mean, maybe not right away-I don't have good credit right now-but maybe we can work out a 12 month interest free plan-"

"Grover, no-"

"Okay, okay, six months interest free! If you agree right now, I'll throw in my hat. Plus a year's supply of tin cans."

"Grover, it's me!" At Grover's blank look, Percy faltered. "Er, Percy. Percy Jackson. Um, you saved me when I was younger, remember? Dude what happened? I never saw you again."

Grover's eyes widened. "Percy…? Wait a minute. Percy!" He rubbed his eyes. "You look so… Gods, your aura, it's like you're a sea god…! So I'm guessing your father was Poseidon?" Percy blinked. "Um, just double checking… you _don't_ work for Phorcys, right?" Grover asked nervously.

It was then Percy realized this was not the time to stand around and catch up. He raised Riptide and slashed at the glass cage, breaking it on the fifth try. Grover looked grateful as he tripped and tumbled out. You know, before he fell flat on his face.

Percy was about to lower his sword and help the satyr up when-

"Hey! Fish face!" Yelled a girl. Percy looked back the way he had come but there was no one there. He whipped to face the other end of the tunnel, the exit.

"Yeah, right here seaweed brain." A girl glared at him. She had blonde hair and startling grey eyes. Even from this far away he could catch the glint of a dagger. "Let - my - friend - go." She spat the words and charged.

Too late Percy realized how the scene looked from her point of view; here he was, still holding Riptide above his head, Grover sprawled at his feet, looking like he had a minor concussion. Plus, it didn't help that this was an aquarium run by evil sea gods and Percy was apparently very identifiable as a 'sea person'.

Then she tackled him to the ground and he realised this girl had moves. His shoulder hit the wall hard and his left arm was pinned under his body. Percy grunted in pain. In an instant the girl's dagger was at his throat. Her grey eyes were big and bright and completely focused on him. "Don't you dare move," she snarled. She continued to study him as she added, "Grover, you okay?"

"Annabeth," Grover groaned and slowly got to his feet. "He's … a demigod too…"

"A Loner? Someone from Camp Half-Blood? I've never seen him around," Annabeth glared at Percy.

"Well, no, I don't think he's any of those things," Grover admitted groggily.

"I thought so." Annabeth still didn't look away. She was smart; she didn't underestimate him. "We've met plenty of evil demigods," she reminded Grover. "Don't worry, I can handle this."

"But, he's… not bad," Grover protested, regaining his strength. "Actually, maybe he _is_ a loner..." Grover suddenly sounded anxious, like he was trying to correct a mistake.

"Listen to Grover," Percy added, "And get off me! Before I-"

"What? Continue to be pinned down and pose absolutely no threat?" Annabeth's expression was unreadable. "Grover, he's an enemy. Can't you sense it?"

Percy wanted to protest; Grover certainly was. But the thing was, she was absolutely right. Percy had a strange feeling gnawing at his gut that this was wrong, that being in this girl's presence was dangerous. His instincts told him that he was extremely close to being a demigod shish kebab. And that, if by chance he got the opportunity to turn the tables, he should take it…

But, this girl, Annabeth. Was an extremely strong 'feeling' that she was an enemy enough for him to attack? She was protecting her friend, Grover, and he could understand that.

He glanced at her orange t-shirt. Being dyslexic, words always seemed to get jumbled in his mind. He had assumed the shirt had said _Hamper Flood_. Weird, right, but Percy hadn't thought much of it. Now, this close up, he realized it actually said _Camp Half Blood_ …

Keto yelled behind them, causing all three of them to jump. She was still far off, and Percy used the opportunity to push Annabeth back; she cursed in another language - Greek, Percy realized - and her blade moved towards him. He met it with his sword (quite an achievement in such close quarters) and they were at a stalemate, neither demigod keen to actually put enough power in their strike to hurt the other.

As Keto's voice got closer Annabeth made an old gesture with her free hand, so subtly he was sure she hadn't realized she was doing it. But he knew it was to ward off evil. He'd seen Greek gods doing it (whenever he went on quests alone he would weirdly sometimes meet the Greek aspects of gods and goddesses. He obviously chose to not mention this to Octavian or the rest of the Camp.) Which meant…

A crazy thought started forming in Percy's head. One in which Annabeth was Greek and Octavian was right. One in which Greek demigods actually _existed_...

Suddenly, he was back in the passenger seat of an SUV, asking Grover what Camp he was being taken too. Then he was talking to his mom three years later; the same conversation they always had, where he asked her to explain why she'd not been happy when they'd reached Lupa. He'd assumed Camp Jupiter had been the correct camp after all. Each time, she gave a vague answer. Percy began re-living how he'd been mocked during his first few months at camp, called _Graecus scum_ by Lares and Octavian's friends ('You just look of Greek heritage,' Jason had assured him). Percy recalled Octavian's stories about Greek demigods being evil creatures. _Scheming Greeks_ , Octavian would lecture them, _they're traitors! All of them!_

Annabeth was a... Greek demigod. Instinctively, Percy knew this was true. Grover was Greek too, most likely. So. They were enemies then.

 _So get rid of them already,_ Octavian's voice spoke in his head, high and angry _._ Getting rid of them... That would be what the Augur, what the Romans, what his home, his Camp, would expect him to do. As a soldier of Rome, a potential Praetor, it was his job to eliminate threats to the Legion. If legends were anything to believe, Greek demigods were major threats. _Then eliminate this girl, this threat, now!_ Percy could just imagine Octavian screaming those words at him.

But, Percy thought, I don't want to.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: PERCY**

During the Titan War, the Twelfth Legion had been without one Praetor.

Julian, one of the Legion's Praetors (the other being Helen) had died during an earlier battle leading up to the finale of the war. He'd been a brave Praetor and leader; losing him had been tough for the entire legion. It had even been a shock for holier-than-thou Octavian. Julian had been _that_ good; the guy could get along with, and calm down, _anyone._ Replacing him hadn't been on anyone's mind, at least not until the Titan threat was over. No one had even mentioned elections. Well, except Octavian, but Helen had decided that it was time to focus on the war effort and not on silly politics (man, Percy was going to miss her as Praetor. She was really level headed.)

Anyway, the final battle involved Jason killing Krios, whilst Percy intercepted Kronos (who was on his way to New York, strangely enough). After destroying Kronos Percy and his team had joined Jason to help topple Kronos's black throne.

Camp Jupiter had celebrated and cheered like crazy when it was all over and done, right there in the ruins of Kronos's palace. Jason and Percy had looked at each other. Jason had looked tired, relieved and in awe of what they'd just survived. Percy had felt all these things too, but he'd also felt uneasy. The shields, the atmosphere… and Julian's needed replacement. Percy knew that either he or Jason was about to be raised up as Praetor. The crowd was eyeing them, eager and fiercely proud and happy. When Percy saw Dakota and a few others, from a bunch of different cohorts, move towards him and Jason, shields raised, he knew he'd have to act fast. Only one of them would be made Praetor.

Quick as a flash, Percy had picked up a shield that lay between him and Jason and had raised the other boy up, before Jason knew what had hit him. There was a millisecond of surprise, before the other legionaries had joined in, helping Percy hold Jason up, all yelling ' _Praetor Praetor_ '. Percy's voice had been one of the loudest.

Percy was proud of Jason and honestly felt he deserved the title (the guy was a natural leader), but in that moment he had mainly acted out of fear. He and Jason both had one big thing in common; they chafed under the rules set by the Romans. Jason was still able to reign himself in, but Percy… well, Percy was impulsive, as Octavian loved to remind everyone.

That day had been a tough day for Percy (wars inevitably involved the loss of too many demigod lives and Percy had real difficulty dealing with it), but it was an overall triumph for Camp Jupiter, demigods and the obligatorily mentioned gods, or so Helen had said in her speech later that day. Percy, however, had felt uneasy rather than triumphant. He'd felt this little bit of self doubt, that he wasn't a real Roman or truly invested in Camp Jupiter. Which was crazy, because he loved his home. And yet, he couldn't help thinking that _real_ Romans stepped up to lead, like Jason, who always put his duty first…

But the truth was, Percy wasn't that scared of leading. He was more scared of being responsible for the Romans and then somehow betraying them. It was an irrational fear-as if he'd ever be a traitor to his friends! (Yet, he couldn't ignore, that his actions and attitude always made the Romans cringe. He felt fundamentally different from them.)

As Percy lowered Riptide, squared his shoulders and stared at Annabeth, the same uneasiness that had filled him that day bubbled inside him now. He felt he was doing something completely un-Roman by essentially surrendering.

Annabeth looked surprised.

"I don't know you; you don't know me." Percy cringed inwardly. _Gods, kill me now_ , he thought. _What a stupidly obvious thing to say._ "But I _do_ know Grover. We were friends once. Look, we have to get out of here." Percy searched this girl's face, looking for something, but he couldn't say what. "Now."

" _We?_ " Annabeth narrowed her eyes. Man, Percy couldn't believe a dumb blonde stereotype even existed. This girl looked intelligent, powerful and deadly.

Annabeth grimaced. Her eyes looked apologetic. She raised her dagger. Percy raised an eyebrow, giving her his best _Really? You're still gonna try kill me?_ expression (sadly he'd used this expression a lot in his life).

"THERE YOU ARE!" Keto's voice thundered around them. The angry goddess appeared in the tunnel and spread her hands. "NOW YOU'LL GET IT! FACE MY BUBBLE OF DOOM!"

To give Keto credit, the bubble of doom was a lot scarier than it sounded.

As Percy watched, a giant globe of water, big enough to fit two dozen evil piranhas the size of flat screen tvs, formed, and was thrust towards them.

"Shi-"

"Fuc-"

"Language," Grover reprimanded weakly.

This time it was Percy's turn to tackle Annabeth; he pulled her down, while swiping the flat edge of riptide at Grover's feet, ultimately causing all three of them to rapidly fall on the ground; at the last second, they all managed to duck underneath the water bubble of death. Just his luck, Annabeth's arm flailed and her dagger cut his left bicep in the process. Blood dripped, warm and slippery, down his arm. "Ouch," Percy flinched. "You know, normal people just say thanks when their life is saved."

Annabeth huffed. "Just get off me." But she did look a little sorry.

Percy scrambled up and focused his energy on pushing the giant water globe ahead of them. He felt Keto's will power battling his, but he needed to control that water bubble. "Follow me," he muttered. He grabbed Annabeth's hand in his own, grabbed Grover's arm with his other hand and tugged them along. Soon they were sprinting away from Keto as fast as they could.

Keto was right behind them this time, though. "YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY!"

"Percy!" Grover yelled, "What are we going to do about this piranhas death trap?"

"Don't worry. I have an idea," Percy lied. In actuality, he just wanted to prevent Keto from sending the death trap back their way; this time she'd anticipate clusmy ducking. The end of the tunnel was in sight. Sweat dripped down Percy's back. "Her power is too strong - I can't -"

Annabeth cut him off. "Quit your complaining. I'm on it, seaweed brain." Her voice revealed just how close behind him she was.

But Percy couldn't afford to turn around and ask her what she meant. "Don't do anything risky," was all he had the energy to mutter. Keto's willpower was slowly overcoming his… any second now Percy would actually be a fish face, true to Annabeth's earlier insult.

Then Keto yelped, Percy heard a crash and just like that, things changed. Keto's willpower crumbled to nothing and now Percy had full control. He grinned, and probably looked like a maniac, but he didn't care.

He'd take this opportunity. He grabbed Hazel's device out of his pocket, a square metallic object the size of a cell phone, and activated it. He threw it at the tunnel wall; it instantly blasted an opening and light filtered in.

Then Percy skidded to a halt and yelled, "Duck!"

He fell to the ground and heard thumps, so he assumed that Grover and Annabeth had followed suit (and hoped desperately that Keto hadn't!) He then caused the water bubble of doom to move back, above him and his "friends". He scrambled onto his back just in time to see it envelope Keto.

"No!" Keto gasped.

"Whoo hoo!" Grover yelled. "Wait, Annabeth?"

"No way…" Percy couldn't believe his eyes. Annabeth wasn't anywhere near him and Grover, but it looked like Keto was struggling with some invisible force. That would explain why her concentration had faltered. She was trying to escape, move out of the bubble's way, but that invisible force held her in place. Keto was surrounded and eaten by her own water bubble of doom. Submerged in water, she mumbled something unintelligible as she was devoured (it was a horribly gruesome sight).

Then, Percy blinked, and Annabeth was running halfway toward him and Grover, scratched and bruised and carrying a baseball cap. Where had she come from? "She said she'd curse us! We're going to drown!" Annabeth yelled. "Run guys!"

Percy scrambled up; so did Grover. Annabeth stumbled, so Percy ran back, grabbed her and ran as fast as he could to catch up with Grover, who was already near the exit. Grover looked back; Percy signalled for him to keep moving.

At the same time that Grover made it out, and Percy and Annabeth were almost at the exit, Keto uttered her last water garbled scream and exploded. Before Percy knew it, a huge tidal wave of water, impossibly large, had surrounded him. He was washed away, momentarily blacking out…

* * *

 _What the hell?_ Percy opened his eyes. It was so dark he could barely see. He was being shoved by the current. _But this is Atlanta._ How crazy was this? He was surrounded by fresh water in Atlanta?

Oh, he realized. I'm not in Atlanta anymore…

At least he couldn't die this way. He was the son of Neptune. He could breathe and find his way out of this.

Keto's voice echoed in the water. _I'll regenerate one day!_ She whined. _But with the last of my strength I will make sure that, you, Annabeth Chase, will_ not _._

Percy looked in the weirdly murky water. He saw Annabeth a short distance away, her blond hair wafting in the current, floundering and drowning. I have to do something, Percy thought.

 _Are you sure?_ Keto's voice whispered in his mind. Her words were faint, she was almost gone. _I'm doing you a favour. This Greek will destroy your Camp, your family and you yourself!_

Percy didn't waste his energy answering dying Keto. He just swam towards Annabeth. He grabbed her and was about to drag her to the surface (although he wasn't sure how deep down they actually were), when he realized there were dark shapes surrounding him. Dark, shrimpzilla like shapes…

At that instant, he felt Keto's presence vanish.

So. The good news: it seemed like the goddess was finally dead.

The bad news: it looked like she'd essentially used the last of her energy to transport anyone left in that aquarium tunnel to some random sea, surrounding by her 'babies'. On top of that, the girl called Annabeth was already turning blue, and Percy was low on energy. Normally the sea revived him, but this water was sapping his strength instead. Plus, he couldn't see very far, when typically his underwater vision was excellent.

Percy squinted at the shadowy outlines of the monsters and noticed they were secreting an inky substance. Probably some sort of poison...

Well Jackson, he thought, gritting his teeth. You're out of luck.

* * *

 **Hey hope you enjoyed that! Just a few things I want to say:**

 **1\. I gotta stop ending on cliff hangers (goal for next chapter; let's not end on a cliff hanger.)**

 **2\. Plz feel free to lemme know if you're enjoying the story. Also, I'm always willing to listen to suggestions too ; )**

 **3\. I think i'll try update weekly from now on. Is that fast enough for you guys?**

 **Lastly, thanks for reading & Cheers guys! **

_Disclaimer/Note: I don't own any of this Percy Jackson stuff. It's all Rick's._


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3: ANNABETH**

 _I'll regenerate one day!_ Keto's voice surrounded Annabeth. _But with the last of my strength I will make sure that you, Annabeth Chase, will_ not _._

The water was cold, impossibly cold. It was a shock to Annabeth's system, a punch to her gut. She held her breath, trying to move, but the current held her in it's grip, tossing her around. Panic flared up inside her. It didn't help that the water was so dark she honestly couldn't tell the difference between having her eyes open or closed.

Annabeth felt frustrated and helpless. Finally, she couldn't take it any longer. She had to take a breath - her lungs were about to explode. As icy water entered her body, Annabeth felt herself choking and losing consciousness...

Her last thoughts were of Grover and the _other_ demigod… The one with the sea green eyes…

~x~

In her dreams, Annabeth was back in her cabin at Camp Half-Blood. It was empty, of both people and furniture. Except for a single basin in the middle of the room.

Annabeth walked towards it, her footsteps muffled. The basin was filled with water; Annabeth's own reflection stared back at her. Her blonde hair, her grey eyes, her lightly tanned skin. But as she watched, her reflection changed, altering in subtle ways. Then she blinked and suddenly in the water she saw Athena, her mother, in place of her own reflection.

Startled, Annabeth turned around. There was no one behind her. Annabeth glanced back at the water of the basin. Athena's face was serene, as it usually was. However her eyes were hard, unforgiving. Annabeth gulped, a sense of foreboding building up inside her.

"Annabeth." Athena's voice sounded in Annabeth's head. "I suggest you abandon this quest."

Now, Annabeth didn't know what she'd been expecting her mom to say, but she was hoping for something more along the lines of _how are you dear? Haven't seen you in a while - would you like me to use my powers so you don't end up drowning and dying?_ "Um, what?"

"Abandon. This. Quest." Athena spoke curtly. Then, for a moment, her expression softened. "I… I think you've stumbled on something… unprecedented."

Annabeth pursed her lips. It wasn't unusual for her mother to offer her advice, but this felt different. Annabeth suspected that something was off about Athena's behaviour, but she couldn't put her finger on what. It would be best to tread carefully. "Why are you a reflection? Why aren't you here in my dream more substantially?" Personally, Annabeth was getting a little tired of water. Still, she made sure her tone was polite.

Athena narrowed her eyes, but her tone was kinder than before. "Annabeth, I'm trying to stay wise. I need to distance myself. I know war has many consequences, so I'm trying to give you some advice before I'm… that is to say, _if_ I'm…" Athena shook her head.

Okay, now Annabeth was certain; something definitely was wrong. Her mom was never so confused or hesitant. Athena was meant to be composed and confident, not scattered like she was now.

"That demigod. Percy Jackson. Stay away from him. What you'll learn from him could alter me and… already I'm fighting the urge to…" Athena's image flickered and for a moment Annabeth saw a wilder, crazy eyed version of her mom. _Lost_ , Annabeth thought, her heart sinking. _She looks lost._ _What's going on?_ Then Athena's normal image returned. "Sometimes… saying goodbye to a friend is better than…" Athena's image glitched. Annabeth missed out on the rest of Athena's sentence.

"What?" Annabeth asked. She grabbed the side of the basin with her hands. "I can't hear you!"

"-as you might have, so I know you'll be partial to him. But fight it! Stay away from the boy. It's worth saying goodbye to a friend for. Do this for me. For your camp." Athena glared at Annabeth. "Understood?" But she didn't wait for an answer. Athena's image dissolved.

Water flooded out the basin, flowing into the cabin. Annabeth tried to run but she couldn't find the exit anymore. She flailed and kicked as the room filled with water and she drowned… When she closed her eyes, she saw Camp Half Blood burning.

~x~

"Oof," Annabeth heard a grunt. "Stop it! Stop it - you're safe. I've got you."

Annabeth was still kicking and flailing. She was hitting something fleshy and warm; skin. There was an iron hold around her arms and waist. _Someone_ was holding her. She quickly opened her eyes, getting ready to kick out again. Sea green eyes were glaring at her. But the expression on his face was concerned. "Geez, hold still already. Relax."

To her own surprise, Annabeth listened. The panic slowly flowed out of her. She was no longer underwater. They were floating in a sea.

She took a deep breath. Air, invigorating air. She couldn't gulp it down fast enough. She closed her eyes and just focused on breathing again. She focused on the fact that she was now out of immediate danger. Slowly, her muscles went slack. Annabeth relaxed and let _him_ be responsible for holding her afloat. Which he did with surprising ease.

"Percy... Jackson?" The name from her dream was still fresh in her mind. Her voice was a croak. (That's not embarrassing at all, oh noooo...)

He nodded. "Heard of me, huh? I'd ask how, but maybe now's not the time." He was bruised and bleeding from cuts on his face. Annabeth noted his left bicep still looked red and sore; she felt a twinge of guilt. The guy must've been in a lot of pain, but his eyes were still bright. "Are you okay now?" Again, just like in the aquarium, he seemed to be searching her face for something. It unnerved Annabeth.

 _Was_ she okay? Her throat felt torn apart. Her body was aching and sore. "Um," She coughed, "I… I was drowning? And now I'm not. What…?"

Percy frowned. "Yeah, Keto used her dying strength to send a bunch of Shrimpzilla's after us."

"Send _what_?"

"Never mind." He shook his head. "Look, I got the water out of your lungs. I seriously thought that you were going to… well, um, you made it! You're alive. That's what matters."

Alarm bells rang in Annabeth's head. She had almost died! There had been shrimpzilla things surrounding them (whatever those were)! And how the heck had Percy removed water from her lungs? "You mean CPR? Mouth to mouth? In the middle of the ocean?" She was impressed (though of course she didn't let it show); that was some serious first aid skill. She didn't realize how it sounded until the words were already out of her mouth.

Percy grinned this wide grin. Annabeth decided it was annoying. "You wish. Nah, I can control water."

"Huh. Even body fluids?"

He shrugged uncomfortably. "Look, I'm going to try get us to that island over there. If you feel your energy coming back, try to kick and help me. Just to clarify, no more kicking _at_ me though. I'm pretty much dead on my feet right now." He gestured to the west, were a small landmass was close by.

Percy might say he was dead on his feet, but Annabeth still sensed a lot of energy in his tone and movements. She narrowed her eyes. Either Percy was lying about just being a demigod or he was one super powerful demigod…

Annabeth nodded. "Let's go." She clung to the guy and tried paddling (it was totally awkward and she felt ridiculous doing it.) He controlled the water and eventually they washed up on the island.

~x~

The island seemed deserted and was really quite tiny. Annabeth guessed you'd be able to walk around it's perimeter in about two hours. She and Percy dragged themselves further ashore and lay down.

Annabeth sighed. The sun was nice and warm on her skin. She looked to her left, where Percy was sprawled. She noticed his clothes were completely drenched. His wet hair was dripping. After a few minutes, when she'd regained some energy, she spoke. "You can control the sea but your clothes still get wet?" She raised an eyebrow.

Percy glanced at himself. "I have to concentrate to keep my clothes dry." On land, he looked more exhausted. He shook his hair, kinda like a dog; water went flying in Annabeth's face. She scowled. "Oh. Sorry," he grinned that _annoying_ grin in apology.

Annabeth stared at him. She started listing things. Purple shirt. Black hair. Green eyes (her favourite type of green too, but that's beside the point). A strong aura. Smells like the sea. But the biggest thing that stuck out about him was that, disturbingly, every time she looked at him she felt a strong urge to _attack_. Annabeth frowned. Never before had she felt this way around a demigod that genuinely appeared to be on her side.

Athena had warned her about this guy. Her instincts told her to be careful too. But then again… He'd saved her. She wondered if she'd have done the same for him. She remembered raising her dagger in the aquarium tunnel and suddenly felt ashamed.

"What?" Percy sounded a little flustered. Annabeth realized she was staring. She pointed at his left arm.

"I'm sorry about that." She paused, and met his gaze. "Thank you for what you did… back there."

"Oh, hey, don't worry about it," Percy shrugged. "Normally water heals my cuts, so it should be fine soon."

"Yeah, but you also saved me. And I'm thanking you for that too-"

"Yeah, and I'm trying to say you don't need to." Percy was smiling, but his eyes were serious. "It's what we do. We're demigods. It's us-" he pointed at her, them himself, "-against them, right?"

 _Us against them._ Annabeth tilted her head. She couldn't figure this guy out. Did he not sense that she was an enemy (the way she felt about him)? Was she the only one struggling with this uneasy feeling?

Instead of answering him, she dug in her backpack, which was soggy but still on her back. "Tell me what happened."

"A hell of a lot. Keto somehow used magic to banish us to this weird sea; we're actually quite a long way away from Atlanta now, by the way. Then you were drowning. She seemed really angry at you. Probably because you held her down and made sure she died. At least," his eyebrows knit together, "I think it was you. Can you…"

"Turn invisible?" Annabeth showed him her baseball cap that she'd stuffed back in her bag. "Yeah, it's a gift from my mom."

He didn't speak for a moment. Then - "Your mom's a goddess?"

"Yes."

"This gift… She didn't give it to you in person?"

"Um, yeah."

Percy blinked. He seemed to have trouble comprehending her words. "You've met your mom?"

There was a silence and she could see thoughts whirring behind his eyes. He definitely wasn't from Camp Half Blood, Annabeth decided. Nor had he _ever_ been part of Camp Half Blood. She studied him again and noticed a tattoo on his forearm; the letters SPQR, a trident and lines… "Yeah," she said gently. "Haven't you? Met your godly parent, that is..." His expression, a mixture of surprise, confusion, hurt and a little bit of hope, told her the answer. She'd seen that expression before, far too many times.

She suddenly felt a surge of pity for Percy and looked away. He'd probably see it in her eyes and wouldn't appreciate it. Being a demigod… it actually _did_ mean something to interact with your godly parent, try as hard as you might to pretend it didn't. It was tough being a demigod (understatement of the century) and Annabeth tried to imagine how much harder it would be without ever really talking to your godly parent.

"Anyway," Percy's voice was a bit more subdued. "You were drowning, so I grabbed you. Then the shrimp monsters surrounded us and I honestly thought we were dead. I was trying to hold them off but they secreted this poison… it stopped the water from energising me." He shook his head. "Then, these merpeople came. Apparently they were undersea heroes… they'd heard about me saving the sea creatures in Atlanta. I guess maybe the water nymphs told them. They distracted the monsters so we could escape."

"Where's Grover?"

Percy's shoulders slumped. "I don't know. Back at Atlanta?"

Annabeth frowned. Grover had made it out of the tunnel. Now that he wasn't captured, she hoped he'd done the sensible thing and gone back to camp. She was worried out of her mind about the satyr, had been for days. Well, be logical, she reminded herself. First get off this island. Then find out where Grover ended up. Which would likely and hopefully be at Camp Half Blood.

Annabeth took a deep breath. This next part would be more difficult. "So, you were on your own quest?" Annabeth asked carefully. "What's that badge on your shirt mean?"

Percy glanced down. "Oh, this? It means I'm a Centurion, a…" He stilled. They locked eyes. Annabeth knew what he was thinking. She was thinking the same thing: _Can I trust him/her?_ They weren't facing a sea monster, they were facing each other now. There was no immediate danger. Did they trust each other enough to be more than friends-in-life-or-death-situations?

Annabeth straightened up. Her mom had warned her to not trust Percy Jackson.

She removed her dagger from her bag. She was a child of Athena; meaning she was smart. She followed reasonable advice.

Percy was either too slow or too exhausted to respond, but his eyes widened. The biggest strength Annabeth had was being logical.

Annabeth threw the dagger with force. Percy didn't even flinch as it buried hilt deep… in the sand, five feet away from them.

Percy whistled. "Quite a gesture. So, no weapons?"

"No weapons. We just talk."

He removed a pen from his pocket. He uncapped it; it turned into a sword. He chucked the sword into the sea. "Okay. Let's chat."

Annabeth looked surprised. "You didn't need to-"

"Don't worry. It'll turn up in my pocket again." Percy gave her a lopsided smile. "In a while, anyway."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. So, I'm Annabeth Chase."

He held out his hand; they shook. "Percy Jackson."

Annabeth resisted the urge to say _I know_. "I'm from a camp called Camp Half Blood. It's a place where demigods go to train and learn to fight. Obviously, you must know about the Greek gods and goddesses. We just fought one."

Percy looked startled that she was giving up all this information so easily. But Annabeth knew someone would have to take a chance and show some faith. Percy had helped save her and Grover in the aquarium. In hindsight, he had probably been the one to release Grover. He had saved her again just now. Logically, he'd done nothing to deserve her mistrust, so she shoved the feeling inside her that screamed _die enemy!_ away. She _chose_ , in that moment, to trust the seaweed brain. And just like that, the uneasiness in her, the idea that she was not safe here with him, disappeared.

"Our camp heard that Grover was captured when he went looking for some missing water nymphs," Annabeth continued. "He was concerned about the sea creatures-he's big on nature. He's my friend, so I went looking for him. I brought two friends with me, but we decided it would be best if I scouted out the aquarium first, seeing as I can turn invisible. I wasn't supposed to actually act, but I was scouting out the tunnels when I saw you and Grover. And, well… here we are." Silence settled on them.

Percy's eyes grew stormy, like the sea, although he nodded and smiled. "Um, my story is a bit more complicated." He fidgeted. "I think we should get off this island first. I don't think we can risk staying here too long before some sort of monster finds us. Then," he took a deep breath. "Then I'll fill you in." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

Annabeth nodded. She'd put some trust in Percy and she wouldn't doubt her decision. Not yet, anyway. "Fine. I actually know a way we can get off this island."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

It was then that the weirdest thought popped in Annabeth's head: _gods, he's cute_. His expression, his slight smirk, his hair blowing in the wind… It was weirdly sweet.

She mentally shook herself. "Yeah. Can you help me make a rainbow?"

~x~

It didn't take them long to form a rainbow and Annabeth quickly chucked in a golden drachma. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering." She and Percy were both standing now.

Percy scoffed, which he then disguised as a cough. Annabeth glared at him. "I'm sorry," he held his hands up, "but what is the goddess of rainbows going to-"

He stopped talking as an image appeared. It was of a boy who was pale and grinning widely. He had black hair that was a little curly. His eyes were dark and amused, as they always seemed to be. He wore a black tank and dark beach shorts. He was only sixteen, but he already had some decent muscle. He was lounging on a grey chair, sunglasses propped up on his head.

Annabeth was shocked. "Are you _sunbathing_?!"

The boy jumped up and looked sheepish when he saw Annabeth. "Hey." He ruffled his hair nervously. "No, I'm not sunbathing. I have a tank on, okay? I'm simply relaxing. I was sunbathing about half an hour ago." He rushed on after catching Annabeth's expression. "Look, it was so sunny and you know how I've always wanted a tan! I'm really way too pale; genetics huh?"

"Genetics? I'm here trying to find Grover and you're worried about your skin tone?"

"Err, can I just say I am so confused," Percy put in.

"Percy," Annabeth sighed. "This is Nico. Nico Di Angelo. Nico, Percy. Nico is _usually_ really helpful," Annabeth added to Percy.

Nico looked Percy up and down. It was an appraising look. He met his eyes last. "I'd shake your hand but… " He shrugged and smiled a crooked grin. "Are you from Camp Half Blood? I really hope so."

"Oh, no," Percy answered amiably. "I've actually got a complicated story…"

Nico laughed, "So what else is new? I've yet to meet a demigod who doesn't." Nico looked thoughtful. "Well, maybe Bianca doesn't. Our dad isn't too popular, but other than that she's got it pretty good." Annabeth decided not to bring up the whole, _but-weren't-you-both-taken-away-from-your-time_ point. If that didn't make someone's story complicated, Annabeth wasn't sure what did.

"Where _is_ Bianca?" Annabeth asked. She was the third member of the Let's-Get-Grover expedition.

"She went to buy some supplies from a hunting store. She's getting some more arrows and stuff." Nico frowned. He was a pretty happy (and also wild) guy, but Annabeth knew he really hated it that Bianca loved bows… She was amazing with one and the Hunters of Artemis had noted. For a number of years, they'd kept their eye on her.

"Well, Nico, could you and Bianca shadow travel? Follow my energy and find us?" Annabeth asked. "I'm not too sure where we actually are."

"Sure, I'll call her after this. But where to after that? Did you find Grover?" Nico kept glancing admiringly at Percy. Annabeth noted that Percy was oblivious to this.

"No, but I think he should be safe. I guess we'll have to re-group. Go back to New York and ask Rachel. Or hopefully find Grover there waiting for us."

"New York?" Percy clutched Annabeth's arm. His eyes lit up. "I'm coming with, right?"

"Well, sure. I mean, you did say you'd explain your side of the story… But, there might not be anywhere for you to stay." Annabeth spoke uncomfortably. She needed to hear his story before she invited him to camp. She shot Nico a look to play along. He completely ignored her.

"What d'ya mean Annabeth? He can stay at camp with us!" Nico spread his hands. His silver skull ring glinted. "So it's settled. I'll be there in a few. Might take a while to track your energy." He paused and looked serious for a moment. He stared at Percy weirdly, then shook his head. "Nah, must be some monsters or something…"

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"Oh, nothing. There's a little trace of the Underworld on you both. Well, Percy in particular." Percy started looking pretty much everywhere but at Annabeth or Nico. "You guys must have been fighting monsters or something."

"Yeah, we were." Percy looked down. "Oh hey, is that sand?"

Traces of the Underworld? Annabeth was pretty sure regular monster fighting didn't result in that, but she decided not to push it. Still, she wondered about Percy Jackson and how he'd survived so long without Camp Half Blood. Who _was_ this guy?

Nico laughed and waved his hand. "Be there in five." The message disappeared.

Annabeth and Percy stood awkwardly in silence. Four minutes passed… No Nico yet.

"Look," Percy said, finally meeting her gaze again. "I understand there's a lot we don't know about each other." He smiled, a little wistfully. "I don't need to stay at your camp. There's, err... some place I can go." He was still smiling, so was she imagining the little hint of sadness in his tone?

"Let's take it one step at a time. First, um, New York. A cafe. Lots of food. A change of clothes." She collapsed on the sand again and stretched. "Checking in on Grover. And of course hearing your story."

A laugh escaped Percy. "And what was that you were saying about taking it one step at a time…?"

She shoved his shoulder, as he sat down too. "Shut up." But she said it teasingly.

They sat together, staring at the blue sea, both of them churning over the other person. Well, Annabeth thought, my mother better not smite me for not keeping my distance from this guy.

* * *

 **Hi! ; ) Okay, I just wanted say another few things.**

 **1\. This chapter was the longest so far. But hopefully you enjoyed it. *fingers crossed***

 **2\. Um, that wasn't a cliff hanger ending right? Right?! Honestly, i tried my best!**

 **3\. I just really wanted to write a happy Nico. But will he stay happy? *cue dramatic music***

 **4\. Changed the title back. ; P thought of an idea where there is a stolen hero, of sorts.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading and cheers! : D**


	5. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR: ANNABETH**

When they arrived in New York, Annabeth sensed Percy's energy levels shoot up. And that was before the guy scoffed down a whole pizza and two glasses of cherry coke at the Cafe Olay (seriously, cafe's had the weirdest names sometimes.) Annabeth got the feeling he wasn't just excited though; there was a whole lot of nervous energy coming off him too.

"More pizza?" Nico offered Percy a slice of his own, eyebrows raised.

The four of them, Nico, Percy, Bianca and Annabeth, sat at one of the cafe tables out on the pavement, underneath a colourful pink awning.

"Yeah, sure, thanks man." Percy grabbed the slice; he and Nico brushed hands. Nico's face flushed, but he looked pleased, not embarrassed.

Annabeth frowned. She had a nagging suspicion about why Nico was so fixated on Percy in particular… but it was a vague thought and she quickly brushed it aside. "So, Percy. Seaweed brain extraordinaire," she spoke dryly.

"The son of Neptune, apparently," Bianca added, her eyes narrowed at Percy, her tone frosty.

"The Big P," Nico put in.

Percy winced. "Please don't call me that."

Annabeth hid a smile, even though her head already buzzed from what little Percy had told them so far. "So, let me get this straight. You're a Roman demigod. And that's different from being a Greek demigod…?"

"Exactly," Percy nodded. "It's confusing, I know..." Percy continued his story. He told them how he'd been given a quest to save the sea creatures imprisoned in Atlanta, when he found Grover. He talked of a wolf goddess called Lupa and a Roman camp, Camp Jupiter. He talked about the Roman forms of the gods. He explained how in the Roman camp they didn't really believe Greek demigods existed, but that there was still some sort of rivalry between Greeks and Romans, thought to originate from past experiences the Romans had had with the Greeks. Then he stopped and hesitated. "I don't think there's any reason for rivalry in this day and age though. I'd never want to attack a bunch of demigods needlessly."

"Is that true for the rest of your camp though?" Bianca raised her eyebrow.

"How old are you?" Nico asked.

Percy chose to answer Nico, and Annabeth and Bianca exchanged a glance. "Eighteen."

Bianca had a fair point; all this news about Roman and Greek demigods was troubling. As was the idea that the Romans already had some sort of understanding about the existence of Greek demigods, whereas Annabeth had been completely in the dark about the existence of Roman demigods. Would the Romans perhaps want to annihilate their camp once they realized the Greeks existed after all?

Most importantly, was Percy Jackson even telling the truth in the first place? His story was hard to believe, even after all Annabeth had been through. And she'd fought Typhoon with the gods! She'd lead the assault on Hyperion in the Titan War!

Still... Percy's SPQR tattoo, his words… Annabeth's instincts told her he wasn't lying, but she kinda wished he was. It would make things easier.

"So is Annabeth," Nico nodded. "I'm sixteen, and Bianca's-"

"Not in the mood for fraternising with enemies." Bianca clenched her fists.

Nico shrugged. "Just trying to keep things from escalating. I'm making diplomatic small talk and all that."

Bianca rolled her eyes at Nico, then glared at Percy. "Jackson, I'm only going to ask you once more; how on earth do we know you won't go running back to your camp, telling them all about us nasty Greeks - and telling them exactly where our camp is located?"

"Well, for one thing, I don't actually know exactly where it's located," Percy protested.

Nico opened his mouth. Annabeth knew he wouldn't actually be telling Percy the location of the camp, or at least she hoped not. Bianca, however, decided not to take the risk. She covered Nico's mouth with her hand. "You know it's in New York," Bianca continued talking to Percy as if nothing was unusual about Nico suddenly using her hand as a dummy. Bianca waggled her other finger at Percy. "We don't even know where Camp Jupiter is!"

Percy looked at Annabeth. The seconds stretched by. Annabeth wished she could read his thoughts. Finally, he seemed to make a decision. "You're right. It's… It's in San Francisco. Or at least, near there. Now we're even."

Bianca let her hand drop from Nico's mouth. She was surprised by Percy's clear cut answer. Frankly, so was Annabeth. Percy continued looking at her, and she suddenly had to look anywhere else but at his sea green eyes. What the hell? Why was her heart beating faster? Focus, Annabeth!

"Believe me when I say I'm not gonna be telling anyone at Camp Jupiter about," Percy gestured around them, "this. Meeting you." Again he was looking at Annabeth. The he looked around the table. "All. Err, meeting you all." He smiled sheepishly and looked down for a moment, running a hand through his hair. Embarrased. He was embarrassed.

"Why?" Bianca sniffed. "What, we're not cool enough for the Romans?"

"What? You were _just_ grilling me-"

"What, you need to be extra macho and descended from _Poseidon_ ," Bianca made a point of choosing the Greek term, "to be worth the Roman demigods' time?"

Percy scoffed. "Are you kidding me?! They hated me for the longest time! Or didn't trust me. Poseidon-I mean, err, Neptune-he's not a good omen. Whatever. Look, I'm not going to tell them about you _super cool and amazing_ Greek demigods," and here his voice was heavy with sarcasm, "because… well. Some people in my camp aren't very open minded. Not at all."

"Aha!" Bianca's eyes lit up. This was of course why she'd been playing at being offended. "So you admit there _is_ real danger in your camp knowing about us Greeks."

"Yes. I do." Percy's eyes grew clouded. Annabeth had a feeling he was back in the past somewhere, reliving some memory. Because suddenly the atmosphere changed, and changed instantly. One minute, it was a quiet and lazy late afternoon; the next, the hairs on Annabeth's arms stood up. Water glasses started trembling all around them, on their table and also on other tables around them. East River, which was nearby, suddenly started sloshing a lot more loudly than it had a moment before, the water getting more and more agitated. People started murmuring apprehensively. Someone gasped nearby. "Earthquake?" they asked uncertainly.

Annabeth cleared her throat. This did nothing. She lightly touched Percy's arm. He seemed to snap out of a daze. The glasses stopped rattling. The East River stopped making ominous noises. "Oh." Percy looked at her, his expression unreadable. "Sorry." His tone was unusually serious. He gently moved his arm back.

Bianca looked surprised and a little scared. Nico looked impressed and a little scared. Annabeth, however, was neither surprised, impressed nor scared. Percy was powerful. After all, he was the son of the big three (and honestly, she was still in shock over that). This was just him losing a bit of control. It must take the guy a lot of restraint to keep that power in check. Annabeth had barely been in the guy's company for an hour, but already she could tell he was impulsive. A little bit reckless.

"I… Well, anyway." Percy addressed them all. "I don't want anything terrible to happen to the camps; Camp Jupiter is my home. I'm sure you feel the same way about this Camp Half Blood. Judging from your behaviour," he looked at Bianca. "You're angry at me for being Roman. Maybe the rest of your camp would be too. I think you guys shouldn't tell anyone about meeting me either. We should all swear on Styx." He sounded grim.

Bianca and Nico both looked at Annabeth. _What do we do?_ Their expressions were identical. Even though Bianca was older, Annabeth had been at camp Half Blood longer. The Di Angelo siblings valued her input.

"That's not what you want to do, though, is it?" Annabeth mulled everything over; Percy's story, his body language, the way his shoulders carried a lot of tension, as if he were holding up the sky (and Annabeth knew a thing or two about that!) "You want to see our camp."

Percy opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. "Well - yes - but, I don't think there's any way it could happen. I can't show you my camp. There's just no way." Percy shook his head. "So how can I expect you to show me yours?"

"Just to be clear," Nico ventured. "You can't show us your camp because you don't trust us or because…?"

"You'd be killed," Percy said it uncomfortably, but there was no doubt in his voice. "The way things are run now, the camp is very traditional in it's views."

"You sound like this bothers you," Bianca noted.

"I stand by my friends in my camp," Percy said. "I am loyal to them. But," he admitted, "not necessarily to all the camp's old fashioned ideas."

Annabeth considered him. "Okay, here's the plan." She looked at Nico and Bianca. "You two, how's your energy? Do you feel a little better now?" The shadow travelling had sapped a lot of their strength (although Bianca had certainly had enough left to give Percy a rigorous questioning).

"Yes," Bianca nodded tightly, but she still looked too pale.

Nico gave a thumbs up.

"Great. You two should go back to camp. Talk to Chiron, tell him about Percy." Annabeth held up her hand as Percy protested. "Percy, Chiron is a centaur. He runs our camp. He's to be trusted."

Percy looked shocked. "Centaur's are evil!"

Annabeth, Bianca and Nico exchanged a bewildered look. "Can we really trust someone who thinks Chiron is a bad guy?" Bianca asked.

Annabeth pursed her lips. "Maybe the centaurs the Romans have met aren't very friendly. But Chiron _is_. He's on our side." Annabeth's tone was maybe a little too fierce, but she didn't care. Her eyes dared Percy to say another bad word about Chiron. Chiron was important to her… So much so that if she tried to describe how much he meant to her she'd probably sound like a cheesy greeting card.

Percy set his jaw, but didn't say anything. Annabeth turned back to Bianca. "Get Chiron's advice on the matter. Also, please check with him and Rachel about Grover's whereabouts. Then send me an Iris message."

"What are you going to do?" Bianca asked.

"Stay here with Percy, I guess," Annabeth shrugged. "He can't come to our camp, and he's Poseidon's - I mean, Neptune's - son. He'll attract a ton of monsters." Annabeth glanced at Percy. "Is that okay with you?"

"I've got no complaints. Well, normally I wouldn't anyway." Percy grinned. It was a kind of wolfish grin, but it didn't reach his eyes. "But, um, I've been a burden on you guys. I could just head off somewhere for a while, and meet up with you here in an hour or two-"

"NO!" Bianca stood up so quickly, her scone flew off the table. Percy caught it and took a bite. Man, the guy could eat. Where did he put it all? His body was all muscle and lean and tan. "You will NOT go anywhere alone. Annabeth will stay with you. I don't want you calling your Roman buddies and planning any sort of ambush. Got it?" She turned to Annabeth, her eyes wide and earnest. "Annabeth, promise me you'll keep an eye on him? At all times. And promise me you'll call me ASAP if he does one slightly weird or suspicious thing."

The thing was, Annabeth knew Bianca wasn't as harsh as she appeared. She was normally really mellow and sweet. But, she also cared a lot about Camp Half Blood; it was their home, after all. Camp Half Blood meant Bianca had a place where she was accepted, but most importantly, a place where Nico was accepted too. Nico had once admitted to Annabeth that he'd never felt as at peace with his crazy, chaotic life, as he did once he'd settled in at camp. Bianca didn't want Percy to ruin that by putting the camp at risk, particularly since Annabeth knew Bianca didn't plan on staying at the camp much longer…

"I promise." Annabeth said.

Bianca's shoulders relaxed. "Thank you." She pulled Nico up. "Let's go, brother."

"Whatever," he shrugged. Then he winked at Percy and grinned at Annabeth. "See you soon, and in camp I'll bet."

He and Bianca walked off to a nice quiet alley to shadow travel.

~x~

Fifteen minutes later, Annabeth wasn't surprised she'd received no Iris message. She knew it would take Nico and Bianca some time to travel by shadows, get their energy back, talk to Chiron and figure out what had happened to Grover. But, even though she explained this to Percy, he was still extremely edgy. Finally, it occurred to Annabeth that he must have something else on his mind.

They were now in a park, sitting on a bench. Percy finally turned to face Annabeth. The sun had started to set, and his face was painted in gold and orange. His turquoise eyes were like mini-oceans.

"Annabeth, do you trust me?" His question came out of the blue; he hadn't spoken for the last ten minutes.

"Um, no."

"Gee, tell me how you really feel then..."

Annabeth laughed despite herself. "Percy, I trust you in the sense that I get you're telling the truth. I trust that you're a good person. I'm sorry but I don't trust you to go off by yourself; you could get killed," Annabeth started listing reasons after catching sight of Percy's _Are you kidding me?_ expression. "You could be ambushed by monsters. I might receive an Iris message at any point. I promised Bianca."

Percy crossed his arms and frowned.

"Well, do you trust me?" Annabeth challenged.

Percy hesitated. Finally - "Yes," he sighed. He looked agitated, but he stood up. He kept nervously shifting his weight. "Look, there's someone I have to see. This person's important to me and I can't have anyone putting her in danger."

"Oh."

"I -" Percy's voice cracked. He looked down. "I'm going to go see her. And him. Them. You can come with, since you promised you'd stick with me. Plus, I guess I wouldn't want you to be attacked by monsters while you're alone."

"Yeah? You _guess_ , do you? I know my way around a blade, you know." Her eyes flashed, but with humour. She was just teasing.

"Yeah, I know. From personal experience." Annabeth could tell the guy was fighting a smirk as he pointed at his bicep. "I have no doubt you'd complete massacre any monster dumb enough to attack you." Percy grabbed her hand and tugged Annabeth up; he did it so naturally that Annabeth was pretty sure he didn't realize a thrill of pure excitement had just passed through her. "That's why I need be there too, to warn the monsters. At least offer them a chance to run away first." He let go. "So, coming?" he asked again.

Annabeth didn't bother to ask _how do I know you're not going to lead me to a Roman ambush?_ or spew out any other interrogative crap. She could sense that he was genuinely going to visit someone important to him. Maybe a girlfriend? (For some reason Annabeth didn't like the idea.) Maybe some family? "Okay," she said simply. She smiled hesitantly. "Let's go." The wait for Nico and Bianca was making her anxious to do something anyway.

Twenty minutes later (Annabeth was getting slightly worried that Nico and Bianca still hadn't got back to her yet, but she guessed there was probably a lot they had to discuss) they stood outside a door in an apartment building, Percy shuffling around, getting ready to knock. He gulped.

 _RAP RAP RAP._

The knocks echoed loudly down the empty hall. Percy's nervousness was infectious; Annabeth felt jittery too. In the darkness of the hall, the brightest things were his eyes.

"Coming!" A muffled voice answered. The door opened a moment later. A woman with brown hair stood behind it. Her hair was streaked with grey and her blue eyes sparkled like lakes. She resembled her son. Annabeth realized with a sinking feeling that it was a mother-son reunion she'd intruded on. She tried to surreptitiously shuffle backwards.

The woman stared at Annabeth and then Percy, which is when her expression froze, her mouth puckered in an 'o'.

Annabeth looked at Percy, getting ready to whisper, _well don't just stand there seaweed brain, hug her already!_

But his expression stopped her; it changed rapidly, going from surprise to anger to happiness, before settling on being carefully blank. Percy's mother scooped him in a hug and Annabeth watched as he hugged his mother back. After a few minutes, Percy stepped back, studying his mother's face. His shoulders were still tense, Annabeth noted.

Then he spoke. "He was here." Percy's tone wasn't blank like his expression; it was furious.

* * *

 **Hey! : )**

 **so, it's a cliffhanger. I think I really like having cliff hangers because they motivate me to write the next chapter faster.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Lot's of talking in this one. Please let me know what you guys think, if you'd like me to add things in the story, or what parts of it you like so far/want to see more of.**

 **Is there any particular character you'd like me to bring in from the Percy Jackson world? I think I want to bring in someone else, so lemme know who else you'd like to see in this fanfic!**

 **Thanks for reading & cheers guys! xx **


	6. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5 : PERCY**

Percy could barely speak he was so angry. Sally Jackson led him and Annabeth inside. Percy fought back all the angry comments boiling inside him, threatening to erupt. He felt like punching something. Preferably Gabe's face.

"Annabeth, this is my mom, Sally." Percy's voice was still furious, but he wasn't in the mood to try and make it calmer. "Mom, Annabeth."

"Um, hi," Annabeth smiled at Sally. She pulled at her sleeve nervously. Undoubtedly, she could sense the tension in the room. It had built up so much you'd need something a lot more powerful than a knife to cut it; maybe a chainsaw.

"Hi, dear, it's nice to meet you." Sally's tone was friendly. She looked calm and for the hundredth time Percy wondered how she managed to never sound panicked. Percy couldn't see anything wrong with his mother's face, which was good. The apartment looked in one piece, which was good too. Furniture the right way up and all.

"Annabeth is a demigod too," Percy explained. "Where's Paul?"

"Oh, are you from Camp Jupiter?" Sally looked curious. "I've haven't met any of Percy's friends in years."

Annabeth opened her mouth, but Percy shot her a look. _Please, not now_. Annabeth complied, but clearly she was bewildered. Percy was too worried and furious to care about how weird he was acting.

He stepped in front of his mother, so she was looking directly at him, and gently held her arms. Staring at her, his anger started to ebb somewhat… "Mom," he was so tired of these same old feelings coursing through him every time he opened her apartment door. "Where's Paul?"

"Paul is at work." Sally was firm and strong as she gazed back at Percy. Any worry he saw in her eyes, he knew was for him. She pushed back some hair from his face. "How are you, Percy?" She didn't tell him he shouldn't worry about her. That she was fine. That she could take care of herself. She'd said that many times before and knew by now that Percy didn't believe it. Well, no, maybe he did. Maybe Sally could take care of herself, maybe Paul was a help too. But they shouldn't have had to be as vigilant as they were. That was Percy's whole point.

"How do you think I am?"

"Not now, Perce." Sally peeked a look at Annabeth. "But, in general…" Sally tilted her head. "How's the camp?"

"Fine." Percy sighed and moved back. "Annabeth, could you excuse us for a minute? My mom and I need to have a private conversation."

Annabeth nodded, and Percy walked into the first room he could find, leaving Annabeth in the living room and trusting that Sally would follow him. He found himself in a guest bedroom - or maybe it was meant to be his room. He sat down on the bed. Sally entered in a few minutes, shutting the door behind her.

"When did he come?" It was Percy's first question.

Sally sighed. "This morning."

"Why?"

"The usual. Wanted money, but of course we didn't give it to him."

"Did he bring his guys?"

"No." But she hesitated.

"Mom." Percy glared. "Tell me the truth."

"Yes. But, we didn't open the door, so…"

"And Paul is…?"

"Looking for a new apartment. A safer one."

"Again." Percy clenched his fists.

Sally nodded. "Again," she admitted. Then she sat next to Percy, her hand resting on his shoulder. "I don't need or want you taking care of me, Perce. I can do that myself. I'm supposed to be there for you, taking care of you. The police are doing the best they can, and frankly-"

"Their best is not good enough." Percy's voice was tight. This had been going on for way too long.

Sally's eyes were fierce. "Don't worry Percy, this won't last. I mean it. One way or another, with the police's help, we'll sort this. They have a new plan now…"

"You think it'll work?"

"Catching Gabe? No, I don't think so. Scaring him off? Yes."

"But for how long?"

Sally didn't respond.

Percy felt like a flipped coin - when someone's called heads, someone's called tails, and it's just standing there, balancing on it's edge, about to tip any second… He knew what he wanted to do. He knew what his mom wanted him to do. "Maybe… you're right," Percy said, as he imagined the coin tipping. He made a decision right there and then. "We don't need to discuss this right now." Sally looked relieved. She squeezed Percy's shoulder. "I'll just need a minute to… calm down."

"Sure, dear," Sally kissed Percy's cheek. "I'm going to make you and your friend some food. Then you can tell me how you've really been." Percy met his mom's blue eyes. Gods, he loved her and Paul. They were the two most important people in the world to him.

"Sure."

Sally hesitated at his door. "It's been a long time since I've seen you, dear."

"Too long."

 **-X-**

As Percy jogged up the alley, the smell of freshly fallen rain hit him hard. He usually loved that smell, but tonight his stomach was a knot of nerves. He hoped his mom and Annabeth hadn't discovered that he'd snuck off yet. He hoped that even if they did, they'd have no idea where to find him. He hoped that he had the guts to do what had to be done…

The sun had set and the street looked blue and black, an ugly bruise. It seemed fitting somehow, a testament to all the pain that Gabe had caused. Smelly Gabe. Idiotic Gabe. Criminal-ugo-son-of-a-bitch Gabe. Percy kept throwing insults at him, but no name was ever satisfying enough… Well, Percy reconsidered, except one.

Dead Gabe _._

The guy had been a problem long enough. Now it was time for him to disappear, just be a nightmare that they could look back on and shudder about.

Percy entered a dodgy part of town. He kept slowing down around men and women who glared at him as if they'd love to kill him if he let down his guard, loudly badmouthing Gabe. Alternatively, he would spray paint taunts and insults to Gabe on alley walls and dumpsters, always making sure no police were around, trying, when he could, to allow the shady looking gangs to observe. He hoped word would get to Gabe.

He also hoped he was in the right part of town; he was, like, eighty percent sure. A quick online search ( one he'd had to risk drawing monster attention for ) revealed that a lot of criminal activity - drug selling, 'black-market' weapons (geez, humans had no idea what real black market weapons even were though; Percy had first hand experience, once having gone on a quest to shut down a magical supplier), the usual illicit activity - apparently went down in this area and Percy had a strong suspicion about who was the big boss raking it all in... After all, this was the area in which Percy's mom used to live with Gabe in that apartment that smelled like beer and the horrifying BO that was Gabe's and Gabe's alone.

 _Dead Gabe..._ Yup, that had a nice ring to it.

Percy had it all planned. He wasn't armed himself; he didn't need to be. Did he feel guilty, planning to take down Gabe as he did? Did he hesitate?

Percy truly hated the guy's guts. He couldn't muster an ounce of mercy for Gabe, nor did he care to try. Gabe is just another monster, Percy told himself. Only worse, really, because Percy could destroy a bunch of monsters and be called a hero. Taking care of Gabe would be messy. He'd been called far less flattering things after tonight… murderer… exile… And then there was his afterlife to worry about...

But he had brought Gabe onto Sally and Paul. Now he had to be the one to rectify things… But, Sally. His mom. He pictured her face, her eyes, her smile.

 _Ouch_. Percy's heart thumped painfully, protesting what his brain told him was the logical thing to do (snuff out the disgusting, soot coloured flame that had been burning for far too long; Gabe). His heart, or his conscience, or whatever it was inside him, was reminding him how this was exactly what his mother hadn't wanted. And, all of a sudden, Percy stopped seeing red. His anger finally faded as the reality of what he wanted to do hit him.

He turned into an alleyway. _It's just nerves... I'm just feeling nervous_ , he told himself. _Yeah, because you're planning to murder a guy!_ His conscience, his gut, his heart, whatever you wanna call it, was yelling at him. _He's not a monster Percy! Not the kind you're allowed to kill anyway. But,_ you _will be if you do this._

"Argh!" Percy knelt, frustrated, grabbing his hair. His stomach was nauseous. His palms were sweaty. His head spun. He needed water. He needed to think clearly. His anger was gone, completely and utterly washed away. Percy realized that there was a chill to the air. He shivered.

Percy looked up; the apartment buildings either side of him bordered a strip of sky. He couldn't see the stars, only darkness and pollution. He imagined they were there though, just like he imagined that there was a Percy somewhere who'd never had to deal with Gabe… or who could've gotten rid of him using Medusa's head. That Percy would probably be horrified at what he was doing now. Percy closed his eyes, and when he did, he saw the stars in that little strip of sky, fiery and bright.

 **-X-**

Now, Percy wasn't usually the type of guy who got all philosophical and spent time kneeling and thinking about his life and "where it had all gone wrong". Uh-uh. Normally he was all about action. All of this deep, look-into-yourself crap that he found himself doing more and more these days was just another reason he hated Gabe. Nothing got on his nerves like having to sort out his feelings. Ugh.

But, as he felt the cool metal of a barrel press against the nape of his neck, hard enough to draw some blood as it scraped his skin, Percy knew with certainty that, in the end, he couldn't do this. He couldn't kill Gabe.

Which sucked, because the guy was right behind him, ready to shoot him dead.

"Sup, Gabe," Percy said, resisting the urge to turn around. "We need to talk."

"How'd you know it was me?" Gabe sounded suspicious, like he thought this might be a trap. The ugly slug probably hadn't expected Percy to sound so calm.

"Smelled you a mile away," Percy said, "I'm surprised the police haven't caught you yet. They just need to set their dogs sniffing. There's no perfume strong enough to hide _your_ scent." Percy paused. "Never mind, they've probably already tried that. Bet their dogs keep leading them to the garbage dump. Simple enough mistake."

In hindsight, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to say at gunpoint.

Percy grunted as Gabe kicked him in the back, forcing Percy's face to spend some quality time, up close and personal, with the grubby alley floor. The ground tasted as disgusting as Gabe smelled. The gun was now held against Percy's head.

He heard a gasp, and Gabe snarled. "Listen, boy, move and I'll shoot." Then Gabe yelled and Percy heard footsteps; Gabe's lackeys no doubt. "Tie him up. Gag him if he screams. We're taking him to the park. Gonna make his punishment nice and slow…" What felt like a bunch of sausages, but was undoubtedly Gabe's hand, yanked at Percy's hair, causing Percy to growl.

Suddenly he was staring directly at Gabe's face; the guy's muddy brown eyes locked on his. Something was off about Gabe, but Percy couldn't put his finger on what, and he was in too much pain to think clearly right then anyway. "This one deserves my personal attention."

Gabe grinned. Percy spat at him; his saliva was tinged red. Gabe clocked him in the face, hard, and Percy couldn't stifle the yell that escaped him. The sniggering that followed made his cheeks and ears burn in shame. If Gabe hadn't punched him again and knocked him out, Percy would've had a chance to yell and swear at him to his heart's content; which might have felt good, but probably would've gotten him killed on the spot.

Maybe Gabe could sense that. He must've really wanted to kill Percy slowly at the park because he quickly lobbed his fist at Percy to shut him up.

 **-X-**

When Percy opened his eyes again, he had the feeling he hadn't been out too long. They were in a park. Percy didn't know which one exactly. The grass was damp and cool; he was lying down. His hands were tied behind his back, but he wasn't gagged, nor were his feet bound. Percy turned his head; in a loose circle, all around him, were Gabe's men. And Gabe, of course, was right there too, scratching his butt with the barrel of his gun while he waited for Percy to wake up. What Percy wouldn't give for the thing to get permanently lodged up there…

"Mr Ugliano, sir, he's awake," one of Gabe's men blurted out. Percy didn't see who.

Gabe fixed his pig-like eyes on Percy. "Good," he said. His tone was quiet, thoughtful. Like he'd planned this moment out just as much as Percy had; only in his case he didn't have any cold feet about murder. Torture. Pain. Gabe's expression was one of quiet satisfaction. It was an intelligent expression. And that's when Percy realized he might actually die. A shiver raced through his body. Percy was scared, for the first time that night.

The thing was, Gabe was a lot of things (mainly disgusting things) but smart wasn't one of them. Oh sure, he could sniff some extra cash on a person a mile away, but that's about as much intellect as he could demonstrate. Percy assumed Gabe must have a bit more intelligence than Percy had ever given him credit for in order for him to have become a wanted criminal, running a pretty large empire, but this was something else. Gabe had ambushed Percy in an alley after quietly sneaking behind him (truthfully, Percy actually hadn't been able to smell him a mile off), dragged him here, bound him up and completely surrounded him with his crew. This was too cunning for regular old Gabe. Plus his voice… it sounded different to Percy. Granted, Percy hadn't spoken to the scumbag properly since he was twelve, but still - now Gabe spoke like English was his second language.

This was weird stuff.

"Get him up on his knees," Gabe barked. "I think it's about time he lost those impertinent eyes of his." Gabe sauntered towards Percy, putting his gun in his holster and drawing out a knife. "That's right boy, glare at me while you still can," he taunted, while two thugs shoved Percy to his knees.

Percy could see more of his surroundings now. He was in a clearing. Trees rimmed the edges, darkly watching over the scene and promising to keep all secrets.

A few statues were scattered in the clearing itself. One, of a man holding a net, some fishing rods tucked in his belt, stood out to Percy for obvious reasons. It was covered in poop and watched without any sympathy. Still, it was the closest link to the sea Percy could see. It gave him a small spark of hope. _Neptune. Father. Help me._

"Now, step back," Gabe ordered; all his men moved away from Percy, into the shadows of the trees. "The honour is all _mine_." And just like that the small spark of hope was extinguished.

Percy realized, his stomach feeling like it was clenched by an iron fist, that his situation wasn't too hot. One, he had evil weirdly un-Gabe Gabe calling the shots. Two, there were thugs all around him. Three, his sword Riptide couldn't actually harm Gabe or his men. Four, their guns _could_ kill him.

"Wait," Percy blurted out. "You don't want to kill me!"

Gabe laughed. "Who said anything about killing you? I'll return you to your home after a nice ransom has been paid… They'll be so happy to have you back I'm sure they won't even notice a few missing body parts here and there." Gabe positioned his knife, slowly moving it towards Percy's eyes… "Now, hold still."

A weird golden light flashed behind Gabe's gunky eyes. His three hairs quivered as he came even closer. All Percy could smell was the beer on his breath.

As Gabe moved in, Percy swiftly kneed him in the groin and ducked sideways, rolling over and positioning his arms just right - at the same time Gabe howled and slashed, missing Percy's face. "Don't shoot - he's mine!" Gabe ordered.

Percy felt the sting of metal but didn't care because he was now able to stand up. He flexed his hands, pieces of rope littering the ground between him and Gabe. Gabe swore at him and lunged.

Percy uncapped Riptide, just for show. It couldn't hurt Gabe, but the other man didn't know it. Gabe froze, startled. His expression grew pained. He almost seemed to be battling against himself. "Try me, you old fart," Percy said, deadpan.

Gabe hissed. _"With pleasure."_ That golden light illuminated his eyes more brightly, and his voice was more inhuman than ever. A startling thought struck Percy: _is Gabe a monster?_

As Gabe circled him, Percy started thinking back to Gabe's actions that evening. They were too sophisticated for regular-Gabe, but sophisticated enough for a monster… The only thing stopping him from concluding this absolutely was the fact that he knew better; his mom had lived with Gabe because he was so disgustingly human he masked Percy's own scent. Gabe couldn't possibly be a monster, could he?

But then Gabe said five words that made Percy 100% certain. "You're dead now Perseus Jackson."

Then all hell broke loose.

Gabe yelled, "Attack!" He gestured wildly for his men to do so, except… Half of them weren't there. They were knocked out. Even Percy hadn't realized - he'd been so focused on Gabe. They had darts sticking out of their arms or stomachs or necks. "What?" Gabe hissed in annoyance, and immediately had his knife knocked out of his hands; but not by Percy - by no one.

It clicked for Percy.

Annabeth took off her hat and quickly grabbed Gabe from behind, pressing her knife to his neck. This stopped the other four henchmen, who Annabeth hadn't managed to subdue yet. "Put down your guns or this disgrace to cockroaches gets it!" Annabeth growled, her eyes flashing like silver lightning. At that moment, Percy was extremely glad the girl was on his side.

The men grumbled but dropped their weapons. Annabeth held Percy's gaze, silently asking how he wanted to play this out. "Kill him - he's a monster!" Percy yelled, even though a part of him was really disappointed that Annabeth, and not him, would finally get to kill Gabe.

Gabe's men bristled, and Percy realized that if Annabeth did indeed kill Gabe, his men would pick up their guns and shoot. He might've been willing to risk his life for the opportunity to take out Gabe, but he wouldn't dream of risking Annabeth.

Gabe laughed. Annabeth held on tighter. "What's so funny?"

"Kill me, please," Gabe wheezed. Percy gaped. Gabe's voice was now _completely_ different. It was definitely someone else's, and Percy realized that whatever was inside Gabe wasn't even pretending to sound like him anymore. Gabe's eyes, when he looked up, were blocks of solid gold. "I've been stuck in this miserable man's body for ages! Four months! Do you have any idea how horrible that is?"

Annabeth looked stunned. She wasn't the only one.

At this point, Gabe's men were looking thoroughly confused and Percy figured that either their jaws, which were hanging wide open, would fall off or they'd start shooting first, asking questions later (even if it meant losing their suddenly suicidal boss.) The guy (let's be honest; _tank_ would be a more accurate description) closest to Percy was already eyeing his gun, like he'd heard enough crazy talk.

Percy lunged for him, taking his legs out from under him and pummelling the tank until he lost consciousness.

"I mean, he told me it would be no biggie, just get into a human host and enjoy myself. So I did, and you know what? I COULDN'T GET OUT! This guy's so human he's like a stinky trap! I loathe this vessel! Kill him - FREE ME!" Monster-Gabe seemed to be on a role.

"Percy - my bag, over there- it had more darts!" Annabeth yelled. "They're tranquilisers!"

Percy ran for the bag, near Annabeth's feet, got his hands on it and quickly pulled out some darts.

The three remaining thugs were right behind him and he rolled aside; one caught Percy by the leg and pulled Percy towards him. Percy built up his momentum and sailed through the guy's legs, darting his sorry ass.

"I don't know if we should kill him anymore, Percy," Annabeth muttered.

"What?! Traitor! Liar! You must!" Gabe wailed and started thrashing with renewed energy.

Percy darted the second man by throwing the little weapon with furious speed. It embedded itself in the guy's neck. The remaining guy very heroically and bravely turned his tail and ran, clutching his butt as if afraid of what Percy might do.

But Percy had bigger issues; Gabe threw Annabeth off and she crashed into the statue of the fisherman. She was sprawled at it's base, silver and blond in the moonlight.

Gabe pointed his gun at Annabeth, but glared at Percy. "Free me. Kill me. Or I kill your friend."

Percy was huffing. He slowly approached Gabe. Annabeth wasn't moving. "Gabe…?" He slowly raised his arms, a gesture of peace.

"Do not call me that," Gabe hissed. His eyes were like lamps, shining with hatred. "My name is-" He continued to hiss, click, make mooing noises like a cow and even stamp his feet.

"Err, got a nickname?"

"I am an eidolon, boy," Moo-moo Gabe continued to hiss. "We only have unique and strong names."

"I'm going to call you Goldie, okay?" Percy said warily. "Now, Goldie, why don't we have a nice chat, no guns, and then I'll-"

"KILL ME!" Goldie insisted eagerly.

"Fine," Percy snapped. But he was lying. Clearly, it would not be a good idea to unleash this monster. "But if you wanted me to kill you all along, why bother pretending to carve my eyes out first?"

"I had to scare you boy! Make you really desperate. See, I can still get a sense of people's thoughts, even though I'm trapped in this smelly vessel and can't take over their bodies anymore! You weren't going to murder Gabe, were you?"

"Well, no," Percy admitted.

"So you see! I had no choice but to go along with the buffoon's routine. Plus, Gabe's desire to hurt and maim you was strong. As was his desire for money." An eye roll accompanied this. "I'm in complete control now though, not to worry. I've finally built enough strength, over four long months, to fully control this imbecile of a vessel. Now I'm asking you to do what you chickened out on. _Kill him_."

Annabeth was slowly shuffling around. Percy's heart started beating again. "You saw - in my mind - that I couldn't," Percy pointed out absently, trying to distract the monster.

"I saw that you _wouldn't_ ," he corrected. "But you could. You absolutely _could_. I saw that in you too. Boy, you could carry out your deepest wish; getting rid of Gabe Ugliano. Ugh, even his name is disgusting. You could say you destroyed a monster, that you had no choice. Your camp couldn't accuse you then - not even Octavian." Percy's eyes grew wide, and the eidolon chuckled. "Yes, boy, I see all." The eidolon paused, as if sniffing the air. "For instance," he sounded furious. Like Mount-Vesuvius-erupting furious. "I see your friend Annabeth is inputting an automaton activation sequence at the base of that statue. She must die."

"NO!" Percy yelled and leapt at Gabe. Gabe kicked Percy aside with lightning speed and simultaneously fired his gun; Percy couldn't see anything but Gabe's boot and then grass, couldn't taste anything but his own metallic blood and the dirt on Gabe's boot. But he heard her scream. It tore him out of his daze with the exact same ferocity as the scream itself was torn out of her throat. Percy roared.

He kicked out at Gabe's legs so the oaf toppled too. He was laughing giddily, happy, as Percy jumped on top and started punching his lights out. Try as hard as he could, Percy couldn't wipe that grin off his face. Percy was so angry he swore he could hear the earth shifting.

"You'll have to do better than that," Gabe's eye was swollen. His nose leaked red. "Use your sword, boy."

Anaklusmos. Percy moved his hand towards his pocket.

Then something warm and blonde tackled Percy. "What the-"

"Percy, stop," She pleaded. She held his arms down, kneeling on Percy's stomach. She was alive. Her face was scraped up and dirty, weeds scattered through her hair. Percy had never before seen a better looking girl in his life. She was alive!

"There's no blood on you-"

"I faked being shot so Gabe would lower his guard," Annabeth explained. "I needed to activate that fisherman. You weren't supposed to fly off the rail like that!"

"Fisherman?"

The ground trembled beneath them and they both looked towards Gabe; behind him, the statue had come to life. It easily cleared nine feet, a hulk of grey seastone, wearing a cape of white bird poop. Percy figured it must've been heavier than it looked because the ground shuddered as it walked towards him and Annabeth. It grabbed Gabe in it's net and moved back towards it's pedestal. Goldie seemed to realize something Percy didn't, because he screeched. Annabeth and Percy got up and approached the pedestal.

"They'll both turn into a statue soon," Annabeth said. "That means this guy - Gabe - will be here forever, as a stone statue, with the eidolon trapped within him."

"Fitting end." Percy managed. It wasn't. He felt Gabe had gotten off too easy.

Annabeth searched the perimeter one last time, probably looking for any more threats. At that moment Goldie the eidolon said some very nasty swear words and gave them the finger as his legs turned to stone. Percy opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. There was a strange glint in Gabe's hand…

Percy pushed Annabeth as far as he could and prayed she wouldn't get hit. He himself turned to run but not before Gabe shot him. A scream of agony was ripped from Percy and he stumbled.

Annabeth was at his side in a instant. Blood pooled around them. Percy's view, as his eyes clouded, was of Annabeth, her face unusually pale, working furiously with white gauze. Behind her the stone statue of the fisherman loomed. He was holding his left hand up. It clutched a net, in turn housing a completely petrified Gabe, his stone gun still pointed at Percy's leg.

* * *

 **A/N: All is owned by Rick Riordan. *bows down to Rick***

 **Hey guys, I hope I'm not too late with this update. Yes there are a lot of unanswered questions in this chapter (and the previous ones too) that I will hash out in the next chapter. ; ) Something to look forward too.**

 **Also, I've made minor (teeny tiny) changes to the previous chapters so they're more coherent. Nothing major though.**

 **Cheers and thanks for reading guys! xx Thanks for all your reviews and follows.**


	7. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX: PERCY

Percy dreamed of many things, most of which he couldn't remember. However, one recurring image was that of Annabeth's face, looking at him across the table at Cafe Olay, waiting for him to say something. She was golden and silver; the sunlight illuminating her hair, skin and eyes.

At the time, he'd been thinking about whether it really was wise to trust the Greek demigods, what with Bianca grilling him like beef and capsicum kebabs on a barbecue, and Nico seemingly unshocked by his story whatsoever. But after studying Annabeth, Percy knew that revealing Camp Jupiter's location was the right thing to do. It was a show of goodwill (and who knew how much more agitated the Greeks would've been without that gesture.)

Still, Percy had not _only_ given them the info for the sake of peace; he had _wanted_ to tell them. Why? Well… He had hoped, and he'd known it was a long shot, to somehow get an opportunity to see their Greek camp. He'd had a strong feeling inside him, drawing him to Camp Half-Blood. But, truthfully, he'd also hoped to get the opportunity to know Annabeth a little bit better…

 _Stupid_ , he chided himself as he dreamed. _You've got a lot on your plate already._ Percy knew the Roman camp would be horrified if they ever found out what he'd done. Octavian would have a field day.

Percy figured if he was smart, he would be worried about the reception he'd get back home, the questions they'd ask him when he returned - and gods forbid that anyone finds out about the Greeks... Yeah, if he was smart, his dreams should've reflected fear and guilt.

 _Just goes to show you,_ Percy thought, _how I'm probably the most knuckle headed demigod._ Because Percy wasn't anxious at all. Instead, he was happy.

Happy, because Gabe was out of the picture. _Finally_. Even if Percy never woke up again, if he slipped away and lost consciousness permanently, at least he'd managed to get one thing right.

Happy, because his mom, Paul, and now Annabeth too, were safe. It was amazing how quickly you could make friends when you were a demigod. Nothing showed you who had your back like life and death situations.

Percy continued dreaming and dozing.

He wondered if he would ever wake up. He wondered if he would see Tyson again if he didn't.

* * *

In the end, Percy did wake up.

His eyes were bleary. He tasted something warm and buttery in his mouth, as if he'd just finished a meal. Someone must've been feeding him nectar, and not too long ago. Despite this, there was no one around him. He was alone.

He was lying on a bunk, a green and blue quilt wrapped around him, decorated with wave designs. On a table next to him sat an empty glass and plate, crumbs resting on the latter like tumbleweeds in a desert. The room was dark, the floors made of wood, the walls of stone. It was a cabin, Percy realized belatedly.

He tried to move. His left leg screamed in protest.

 _Shot._

The memories of his encounter with Gabe flickered behind his lids.

Percy kicked aside the blanket. Which is when he realized that he was wearing different clothes; grey beach shorts and an orange t shirt. He shuddered and wondered who'd been responsible for that.

His gaze slid to his legs; his left leg had been bandaged near the top of his calf, but a small red patch stared back at him. X marks the spot.

His leg howled insults at him (in the language of pain) every time he tested moving it. Yet Percy was sure that he was healing faster than normal. The nectar and ambrosia would be to thank for that.

Percy got up from the bed gingerly. His muscles were sore, but the pain wasn't too bad considering what he'd been through. He investigated the cabin.

A trickling noise at the back revealed a small round basin, water jumping into it eagerly through the mouth of a fish statue. He noticed the cabin had been decorated in a sea theme - lots of netting and aquatic decorations, including a trident paper weight that rested next to Percy's pen on a nearby table.

Riptide! It usually stayed in his pocket. Percy guessed that someone must have taken it out recently. He frowned and stuffed it back in his pocket.

Percy slowly walked towards the fountain. The floor was cold for his bare feet. His leg was of course still hurting, but not so much he felt the need to scream out loud, which was always a good sign.

The spray rising from the basin was pleasantly cool. The scent reminded him of the sea. He felt very connected to someone… someone he had the faintest memories of - a smile, a sense of _there-ness._ His dad. Neptune… had never felt like the right term. He'd always preferred the Greek name: Poseidon. It just sounded better to him. Personal preference, he had supposed. Until now.

Percy glanced at his reflection in the water. It rippled. He squinted at the words on his reflection's shirt (for him, reading them backwards was not too different from reading them forwards); Camp Half Blood. Then he caught sight of his forearm. SPQR.

He felt like a contradiction.

"Senatus populusque romanus," he muttered.

"Your tattoo," a voice guessed. Percy turned, startled; Annabeth stood at the doorway. "Enjoying cabin three?"

She clutched an orange plastic water bottle in one hand, gauze and scissors in the other.

It took Percy a minute to recover. "It's all right," he admitted. But his heart started racing, thoughts whirling in his head… _Cabin three... Did that mean what he thought it did?_

Annabeth walked inside. She looked tired. "I came in to check on you. Chiron sent me."

"You're the one I should thank for taking care of me?" Percy gestured to the empty dishes.

"Yeah. Among others. You drool when you sleep, you know."

Percy groaned, flushing. "I - err -"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Relax, seaweed brain. You're turning redder than Mr D's strawberries. So." She tilted her head. "Wanna explain what happened back there?" It was an innocent enough question, but her eyes held an edge.

 _Shit_. "I, err..." Percy realized he was in for it big time. "Sure you don't want to talk about my drooling a bit more?"

"Okay. Sure. You drool like the ocean's trying to escape your mouth." Annabeth's stare got twenty degrees colder. "Now let's talk about how you ditched me and your mom to chase up some guy called Gabe."

Percy stared. "Like the ocean's trying to escape my mouth?" He repeated, trying hard to fight a smirk. Annabeth would probably lose her cool and judo flip him or something if he didn't take this seriously.

" _Percy_ ," she began, her tone a warning to behave.

"That's pretty cold, as far as insults go." He couldn't help himself.

Annabeth's glare now put glaciers to shame. He figured the next words out of her mouth would not be very PG-13, so he cut her off. "Okay, fine. But it's a really long story - "

"I've got nothing but time, waterboy."

Percy decided to let that one slide. He took a deep breath. "It's difficult for me to talk about. Gabe used to be my stepfather."

Silence.

Percy stared at the water as he continued, absently dipping his hand in. The water was cool and fresh. It gave him some clarity, and the strength to go on. "He wasn't..." Percy faltered lost. Gabe wasn't what? _The nicest? Ever there for his mom? Interested in being anything other than a greasy pig?_ "He wasn't a criminal when my mom met him," Percy decided to go with. "Or a monster. He was just a smell mortal, is all. So my mom married him and I never understood _why_ \- until I found Lupa. It was because of who I am - a demigod. Gage's scent saved me from monsters when I was growing up.

"After I found Lupa I realized a lot of things, actually. As you already know, I made it to Camp Jupiter and found out my dad was Neptune, one of the least respected gods in Rome." Percy made a sound somewhere in between a laugh and a scoff. Annabeth made a questioning noise and Percy explained. "Well, he's never really asked me to go on a quest. I find it funny that all the gods we respect most in Rome use us like little pawns, as if we're in a giant chess match - and gods knows I hate games like chess. But gods like Neptune, Minerva - the ones that don't really cause all the chaos - they're treated like -" Percy shook his head, too exasperated to continue. He risked a quick peek at Annabeth.

She looked concerned. "You remind me of someone," was all she said. She spoke it so softly he had to strain to hear her.

Percy shrugged. " _Anyway._ My first quest was where it all started."

"What was it?" Annabeth asked.

Percy hesitated. He realized, of course, that he didn't have to tell Annabeth all this. He could cut to the point. But he'd never talked about his life before, and he was curious… What would it be like to share some of his past with someone?

He met Annabeth's eyes. She was still hanging around near the entrance of the cabin. "I had to recover this lightning bolt. Jupiter's master bolt."

Annabeth's eyes flashed, like she was connecting dots. "Okay, okay - back it up." She held her hands up. "Could you start from the very beginning?"

From the beginning. Could he do that? Now that he was actually starting to share, Percy felt like it would be less scary for him to stand naked in front of her.

"I can try," he finally said. "When I first arrived at Camp Jupiter, I was only twelve. I was being chased by a Fury. It had been sent by Pluto, but I didn't know that at the time. The thing was hounding me non stop and it followed me right to Camp Jupiter's borders."

Annabeth was a good listener, so Percy continued.

"The Camp was freaking out, trying to man their towers and assemble their soldiers, but no one had been prepared for me to come barrelling in, chased by one of the scariest creatures in hell. There was this one camper, who was on guard duty at the time. He was running behind me and was really desperate to get to camp.

"He was scared out of his mind, which I totally get. I mean, he was only about eleven at the time - near my age, and I was - sure as Pluto - freaked. Only issue was, he accidentally knocked me aside into the Little Tiber, the river bordering the camp, in his rush to get to safety. I went under the water just as the fury swooped for me, and so she ended up catching the camper - a scrawny dude called Octavian - instead.

"Long story short - I controlled the water and saved him. There was just this instinctive feeling in my gut - um, like a buildup of pressure. That, and of course the seriousness of the situation, gave me the strength to push a tidal wave at the fury.

"That's when everyone realized I must be Neptune's son."

Annabeth whistled. "Some entrance." She spoke like she knew a thing or two about dangerous arrivals to camp. "So I'm guessing it was tough being Neptune's kid?"

"Well, no more so than being -" Percy faltered.

"Athena," Annabeth supplied. "That's my mother."

Percy digested that. "Right. It wasn't any tougher than being Athena's kid, or being any other demigod. Neptune wasn't well-respected, but the Roman soldiers were still willing to give me a chance, albeit sometimes grudgingly, because I'd saved Octavian. He was a big deal for a handful of people - and because this handful of people happened to be super rich and influential, as is Octavian himself, he was essentially a big deal for the entire camp..."

"But not you. You don't like him," Annabeth noted.

"No," Percy smiled dryly. "I do not. See, when you get to Camp Jupiter, you have to have someone vouch for you. They take responsibility for you and if you do anything to endanger the camp, or anything traitorous, they get killed along with you."

"How nice." Annabeth pursed her lips so hard they became a white line. Her tone made it clear that she thought this rule was anything but.

Percy could guess what she was thinking. "The camp needs to take care of itself."

"By killing the members who decide to take chances on new arrivals? What kind of place is this?" Annabeth countered.

"It's about making sure Roman soldiers take their duties seriously," Percy protested. Secretly he agreed with Annabeth, but hearing her attack Camp Jupiter made him defensive. "It's not as bad a place as I'm making it sound - it's amazing actually!"

"Right." Annabeth blew a strand of hair out of her face. "So I'm guessing this Octavian vouched for you?"

Percy laughed. "Nope. He's not the kind of guy to risk his life for anyone. But he took a liking to me and got one of his other chums in the first cohort to do it. A guy called Bryce Lawrence. His dad was Orcus, the god of punishment, though that was something I learned later. Now, I'm not the type of guy to judge people by their fathers - but Bryce, he was one nasty piece of work. Hated me, and I hated him too. Reminded me of Gabe, to be honest."

"Remind _ed_? What happened to Bryce?"

"Well, the centurion of the first cohort at the time was Bex - and he was killed two years after I arrived. Bryce was responsible. The guy was a psychopath." Percy decided not to mention much more than that, but a plethora of memories flickered in his mind's eye. He thought of Bryce's trial in New Rome. He thought of Bex, who had taken him under his wing - even after Percy had been kicked out of the first cohort. He thought of how he had punched Octavian at the funeral (hey - the guy had deserved it!) "Bryce was dismissed from the Legion. The actual punishment for what he did is death, but Helen, one of the Praetors - that is, leaders - of the legion is against death penalties, so..."

"Do you think that was fair?" Annabeth asked hesitantly. "Bryce's punishment, I mean."

Percy thought about it. "I don't know what fair is anymore."

"Stop that. You do."

Percy shook his head. "No, I don't. Not for people like Bryce or Gabe. I don't think Bryce deserved a death penalty, but the guy _was_ a complete terror."

"So you think he got off easy," Annabeth grunted. "But all that happened years later, right? So, when you initially arrived -"

"Right. Back then, Octavian tried to adopt me into his group. He thought I'd be a good, powerful asset." Percy made a face. "He claimed he'd shoved me in the lake on purpose, to save me. It didn't seem that way to me, but I thought, 'hey, who knows. Maybe that high pitched opera note he'd been screaming as he'd ran hadn't been a noise of utter terror, but rather his battle cry.' But even though I gave him the benefit of the doubt, we just didn't click. Octavian's big on making friends he can control, or that are less powerful than him. If you don't fall in either category, you're instantly on his bad side."

"But you couldn't have been the only one on his bad side."

"I'm not. The Legion's changed a lot as I've grown up. But back then, I was one of the only ones. Jason Grace was another."

Annabeth nodded. "You muttered his name as you slept."

"Great." Percy flushed. "Just great. That's not embarrassing at all." Percy ran a hand through his hair. "Well, he's one of my best friends. From the start, Jason and I got on real well. He was number one on Octavian's most hated list, and in a matter of days, I was sharing that title along with him." Percy grinned proudly. "Jason was in the fifth cohort - the most, err, unpopular cohort I guess. Now he's Praetor. I reckon Octavian was afraid that would happen, even back then.

"So, there was already tension between Octavian and me. But things really fell apart for me two weeks later, when it was discovered that Jupiter's master bolt had been stolen. Jupiter assumed I had done it - being a son of Neptune who had recently turned up. I was sent on a quest to retrieve it, because Julian and Helen, the praetors at the time, believed I was innocent.

"But most of the camp suddenly hated me, or didn't trust me."

"Octavian included," Annabeth guessed.

Percy nodded. "I was allowed to take two people on the quest with me. I wasn't planning to ask anyone to risk going on what seemed like a suicide attempt, but Jason just stood up and announced he was coming along. Never been more grateful to anyone in my life. And, of course," Percy clenched his fist. "Octavian was told to come too. Should've been Bryce, the guy who vouched for me, but he was on suspension for 'accidentally' killing three unicorns and injuring Preator Julian in the process - huge mess."

Annabeth touched Percy's hand, and Percy realized, with a mixture of surprise and excitement, that she had been moving closer to him as he'd been telling his story.

She led Percy back to his bunk and handed him her bottle. Percy took a sip; it tasted like nectar, warm and buttery.

"Percy, I'm still confused as to how this relates to Gabe," she said gently. Her tone was puzzled.

Percy took the gauze and scissors from Annabeth; she flinched because his hand was still cold from being in the basin. He put his drink down and started re-wrapping his wound. He knew enough first aid to know how it was done.

"Well, Octavian hated me after that - he almost died on this quest several times. One monster we met was Medusa, and I cut off her head. I sent it to the gods to send a message." Percy smiled at the memory. "Octavian went so purple I thought Bacchus had suddenly showed up and was turning him into a giant grape." He chuckled. "We eventually found the master bolt and returned it to Jupiter.

"On the way back, I wanted to stop by and visit my mom. Octavian and Jason came along, and… Octavian met Gabe and he knew… he could tell I hated Gabe.

"When I went in my room, I found Medusa's head. Waiting for me, to use as I wished. I was going to give it to my mom, but Octavian stopped me. He glared at me and said that if I did that it would count as 'patricide of sorts on my part', punishable by exile from the legion - or even death. He said he'd do his duty as a 'good Roman' and report me.

"My mom overheard and that was that - she refused to use the head, even though I insisted that Helen wouldn't allow death and it was worth exile to be free of that smuck." Percy was fumbling with the bandaging now, even though he'd practiced doing this in camp many times before.

Annabeth gently pushed his hands back. "I got it. Go on."

"That's it," Percy leaned back. "My mom eventually got the courage to tell Gabe to leave. And he did. For years we didn't hear from him and she met a nice guy called Paul Blofis who took good care of her.

"Octavian was so mad at me after that quest, probably because the entire legion really liked me. I got a lot of attention and the centurions of cohort one, especially Bex, started taking a special interest in mentoring me. I think Octavian had realized this would happen - because he wasn't surprised, just sullen and mad.

"Many months later, Octavian got me transferred to the fifth cohort. But that's another looong story. Soon after that Bryce was dismissed. But eventually life returned to normal. Until about four months ago, when Gabe suddenly started harassing my mom and Paul.

"He'd spent the years becoming some sort of gang leader, but he'd never cared about me or my family before. I just don't understand why -" Percy stopped. Took another deep breath. Continued. "Anyway, it was really stressing me out. Especially since I couldn't manage to take any time off to see my family." Percy was leaving out the details of Gabe's harassing, but he couldn't bring himself to say more.

Annabeth was still working on his leg. It hurt, but as Percy kept sipping nectar. Each mouthful lessened the pain. "So that's why you were so keen to get to New York."

"Yeah. Reyna and Felix probably think I've died or been stranded somewhere. I needed to take the opportunity to check on things back home. I didn't plan this or anything, but…" Percy shrugged.

Annabeth finished off Percy's leg. She looked up at him. "I was talking to your mom when I saw you running off from the apartment window and excused myself. I didn't know what you were doing, but I figured it was dangerous. I didn't want to get your mom involved. So I put on my invisibility hat and followed you."

"Were you the gasp in the alleyway?"

"Yes." She paused. "You know, here at Camp Half Blood, we heard something had been taken from Mount Olympus, from Zeus, when I was twelve. And that it was returned. No idea it had been you." Annabeth frowned. "I knew the lightning thief. Now I get to meet the guy who retrieved the lightning too."

Percy realized that he was extremely close to Annabeth - if he leaned down a few inches their noses would touch. And if he leaned down even more...

Percy swallowed. "This is Camp Half blood then? I'm really here?"

"You're really here all right," she said, her tone holding something Percy hadn't expected to hear - respect. She stood up, straightened her frame. "Come on, seaweed brain, there's quite a few people who want to meet with you."

* * *

They talked some more on the way to what was called the Big House. Annabeth seemed really fixated on the fact that the eidolon had decided to posses Gabe four months ago, and then started harassing Percy's family ever since. She seemed to think someone was out to get Percy, but Percy insisted that no monster would know about Gabe. When Annabeth suggested Octavian might have played a part, Percy dismissed that idea. Although he did hesitate, thinking it through, in the end he decided that Octavian would never risk disobeying the rules like that. Octavian liked to twist the ancient Roman laws to achieve his ends, not break them.

"But you know," Percy remembered, "That insult - disgrace to cockroaches. That was almost as scathing as the one about the ocean escaping my mouth."

Annabeth elbowed him hard in the ribs for that.

Percy laughed, but his laughter quickly died when Annabeth then told him that Grover still hadn't been found. They assumed his was still making his way back to Camp Half Blood, but not even their oracle, someone called Rachel, could see where he was.

Percy felt wretched - Grover had been his best friend when he was younger. He'd risked his furry goat behind to help Percy and his mom. Percy wanted him to be safe.

Percy was still sombre as he and Annabeth approached the big house - a ranch style house with a wrap-around porch. Standing outside, waiting for him, were three figures; a centaur, who Percy instantly recognized, Nico Di-Angelo and what looked like a surfer dude.

"Mr Brunner!" Percy blurted out, when they reached the group. "What the - ?"

"Percy," Mr Brunner smiled, but it was a sad smile. "My boy, how have you been all these years?"

Annabeth frowned. "This isn't Mr. Brunner. This is Chiron."

"Mr Brunner was my alias whilst I was undercover at a schooling institution once," Mr. Brunner - or was it Chiron? - explained to Annabeth. "Yancy Academy, I believe."

"Yes, sir," Percy nodded, puzzled.

"Percy, we certainly have a lot to discuss." Chiron glanced at Annabeth. "But first, er, perhaps _you_ can help me end the meeting we're having inside?"

"But why would you schedule a meeting now - ?" Annabeth frowned.

"Mr D has arrived back early." Chiron's tone was nonchalant enough, but Annabeth must've known something Percy didn't because she paled. "He's called the usual meeting to get a report on the things that have gone on in his absence." Both of them glanced at Percy.

"Right." Annabeth rushed inside the house. Percy made to follow her, but Chiron put a hand on his shoulder.

"Percy, would you mind waiting out here for a few minutes? Or better yet - Nico and Will can give you a quick tour of the place whilst I help Annabeth - er - handle things." Chiron smiled, and this time it was happier. "It's good to finally see you here, by the way." Off he trotted.

Percy was incredibly confused, but he let Nico and the blonde surfer - Will - show him around the camp.

They saw the Cabins, which amazed Percy. But he was secretly glad that there wasn't an accommodation-by-parentage system in Camp Jupiter, because he'd have been completely alone if there was. He was shown the strawberry fields, the campfire, the lava climbing wall and lots of other equally crazy things that were both similar and extremely different from the set up at Camp Jupiter. What struck Percy the most was how much smaller Camp Half Blood was in terms of numbers; they had far fewer campers.

Lastly, he was shown the forest.

Nico had been happily chatting the entire time, whilst Will seemed a bit distant, although he was polite enough if Percy asked him a question.

"I'm really glad you're alright man," Nico was saying. "I was totally freaking out that you got hurt. But Annabeth and Will fixed you up real good. You're looking better than you did before." Nice slapped his left shoulder. "Maybe you'll even be well enough for a game of mythomagic tonight."

Percy seriously doubted he looked like anything other than a pile of schist, as Hazel would say, but he nodded and thanked Nico anyway.

Will snorted. When Percy looked at him, curious, he pretended it was just a sneeze. Percy looked back at Nico, who looked equally nonplussed. "What's up, Will?" Nico asked.

Will shrugged. "Tickle in my throat."

"Thanks to you too, man," Percy said. "I'd be long gone if it weren't for you and your medic magic." He grinned. Will stared at him, stony for a full minute, his mouth twitching. "I mean," Percy ventured, "I know this is Camp Half-Blood, but I'm pretty sure the aim isn't to actually arrive with only half your blood still inside you." It was a bad pun, but it worked; Will's twitch finally turned into a reluctant smile.

He shook his head. "Your sense of humor man…"

"I know!" Nico beamed. "Isn't it great?"

Will froze, and was about to say something.

But at that moment the air rippled in front of them. It was an Iris message. Percy couldn't believe his eyes, because next thing he knew, he was looking into at a little waiting room. Inside, all alone, sat Grover. He was looking at Percy. The thing was, Percy knew that room - it was inside the Senate House in New Rome.

"Percy! You've got to help me!" Grover's eyes were wild.

"Grover!" Percy exclaimed. "What -"

"No time man! My trial is happening tomorrow and they'll be back to check on me any minute." Grove bleated in frustration. "Percy, they think I did something to you! They won't believe me when I say I didn't - apparently the Augur thinks I'm the key to finding where you are. Where are you?"

"Camp Half Blood," Percy began.

"I knew it! You can't let them know about that Camp Percy."

"I won't - I'll come get you - I promise -"

"Percy, you need to know, Reyna and Felix are coming to New York! They're looking for you - this camp is really worried. They're using their eagles. They don't know where in New York, but -"

Eagles? That was a lot of effort to spend on one demigod… Percy frowned. "Grover, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," he squeaked. Even after all these years, Percy could still tell when he was lying. "You take care of yourself -" He looked behind Percy - "Oh no, they're coming-"

Before Percy could say another word Grover waved his hand and ended their connection.

* * *

 **Hey guys. Really tired so I'll just post this chapter for now. I'll edit this Author's note later tonight. xx : ) But thank you for every read, favourite, alert and review! Especially my reviews for the last chapter - they were a HUGE motivation for me writing this next one so special thanks to you guys! : D Cheers.**


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